Each party elected two deputies to the European Parliament, but DISY lost almost nine percentage points of its electoral power compared to the 2014 European elections.
DISY’s deputies are aligned with the European People’s Party and the AKEL deputies with the European United Left group of European Parliament.
Center DIKO party and Socialist EDEK party elected one deputy each, who will both join the European Socialist formation in the European Parliament.
The office of the Chief Elections Officer announced after midnight in line with other European countries, the official final results, though counting had finished hours earlier.
Democratic Movement (DIPA), a new political formation under a former speaker of Parliament and former DIKO chairman garnered 4 percent of the vote and the Greens-Citizens Alliance, also a new grouping had a 3 percent share of the vote.
Turkish Cypriot “Yiasemi” (Jasmine) party under publisher and journalist Sener Levent, a declared enemy of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, which also appeared for the first time, received 2 percent of the vote.
DISY party leader Averof Neophytou, addressing party supporters after meeting with President Anastasiades, said the vote resulted in the validation of the ruling party’s policies by the electorate and ensured that the party remained the main political force of Cyprus.
Neophytou also expressed concern over the rise of the extreme right ELAM party, which is believed to have increased its electoral power by six percentage points by drawing mainly from DISY voters.
“The rise of the nationalist party, even if it has not elected an MEP, can only be a worry. You have to listen to society and to address the cause of the ‘birth’ of this phenomenon. As the Democratic Rally we will analyse seriously the election results and where required we will proceed with any changes needed,” Neophytou said.
AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou also expressed concern over the rise of the extreme right, saying that everyone needed to take responsibility for the phenomenon of the rise of nationalism.
AKEL ran a Turkish Cypriot candidate on its ballot for the first time ever, a science professor of the University of Cyprus, Niyazi Kizilyurek, who was elected as a deputy to the European Parliament.
Kyprianou said the party would continue to work with the Turkish Cypriots.
Eight Turkish Cypriots candidates belonging to two Turkish Cypriot political formations also contested for the first time, albeit unsuccessfully, one of the six seats allocated to Cyprus.
A total of 72 candidates competed for the six MEP seats, of whom 69 were backed by political parties or coalitions, and three were independents.
Chief Electoral Officer Kypros Kyprianou said turnout overall was 42.8 percent compared with 43.97 percent in the European elections in 2014.
