Record number of female candidates in 2026 Cyprus parliamentary elections

For the upcoming May 24, 2026, parliamentary elections in Cyprus, 753 candidates have been confirmed, with 224 being women, representing 29.7% of the total. This figure marks an increase from the 24.31% recorded in 2021 and 21.9% in 2016. Despite record overall candidacy numbers, Gender Equality Commissioner Josie Christodoulou criticized the statistic, noting that women comprise 50% of the population and that their current representation on ballots remains insufficient. Among political parties, Alma – Citizens for Cyprus leads with 25 female candidates, followed by the Movement of Ecologists – Citizens’ Cooperation with 24, Volt Cyprus with 22, and AKEL – Social Alliance with 21. Currently, there are eight women in the Cyprus parliament, with a historical peak of 12 seats held by women in 2020. The Commissioner emphasized that balanced representation is essential for legislative relevance, while noting that Cyprus ranked 150th out of 182 countries globally for female parliamentary representation, significantly trailing the EU average of 33.6%.