Disy on Saturday insisted that the deal it struck with social media influencer Fidias Panayiotou and his political party, Direct Democracy Cyprus, which saw him and his party support Disy leader Annita Demetriou’s successful bid to be re-elected as House president bore no relevance to the forthcoming presidential elections of 2028.

“The agreement was on social policies and not on trade-offs, and was made without any connection to the presidential elections, which some were courting,” the party said, before adding that the agreement was “an act of absolute transparency”.

To this end, it said that the three policies it had agreed to pursue with Direct Democracy Cyprus “are within the goals and priorities of Disy, as they were presented prior to the election”.

Those three policies, as Demetriou and Panayiotou explained in a video posted to social media on Friday, entail plans to build 10,000 new houses, to disburse thousands of euros in cash payouts to new mothers, and to increase the minimum monthly pension.

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“We thank Direct Democracy Cyprus for its support and note with satisfaction that it did not ask for anything in return to which we could not agree,” Disy said.

It added that the three policies have all “been priorities for us to demand from the executive branch for a long time”.

“Unfortunately, the government has not set the right priorities in recent years and has not adequately addressed the large increase in the cost of living.”

Panayiotou had said in the video that he wished for mothers to be paid €5,000 for their first child,  €10,000 for their second child, and €15,000 for every subsequent child, with Demetriou saying that “if we look at it holistically, my Fidias, it is feasible, and we in Disy say that we can even exceed those figures”.

Regarding pensioners, Demetriou said that “it is time to support our pensioners, especially those receiving low or medium-sized pensions”.

“For those who contributed to the social insurance fund, €1,088 [per month] must be a right and we can succeed there,” she said.

The third and final policy entails plans to build 10,000 new homes, with Demetriou saying that it is “feasible” and that “of course, it must happen in a short period of time, in three or four years”.

After the video was published, Panayiotou appeared on television to justify his decision to endorse Demetriou, declaring that his party’s “philosophy” is “not to be throwing eggs and rocks at the wall”.

“For us, our philosophy is not to be throwing eggs and rocks at the wall from outside, like the opposition parties do,” he said, adding that “I threw eggs and rocks before as a member of the European Parliament and I was not being listened to”.

“Now, we have got in[to parliament], and we want to work together to solve society’s problems,” he said.

The next presidential elections will take place in 2028. Incumbent President Nikos Christodoulides, who left Disy to stand for election in 2023, is expected to run for re-election, while Demetriou is widely expected to be endorsed by the party she leads. Alma leader Odysseas Michaelides is also likely to run for election.