Elected as an independent MEP, Fidias Panayiotou pledges to vote according to what his followers want — and to make politics cool.
Over the past few months, a popular YouTuber from Cyprus has been explaining to more than 2.6 million subscribers why and how he was elected as an independent member of the European Parliament.
Newly elected Cypriot MEP Fidias Panayiotou hitchhiked to Strasbourg for the inaugural plenary session because he thought it would be more fun and cheaper.
But the 24-year-old told Euronews that he also viewed the trip as a symbol of what he wants to do with his new platform.
“It was a bit symbolic in the way we did it, to show that politicians are normal people and to get people closer to politicians, because politicians are something above and far from people” Panayiotou said.
“We want to bridge the gap that people feel from politicians. Our goal for the next five years is to make politics cool.”
The latest example of this “cool politics” was using a simple sheet of paper with a small graph to explain the relationship between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission.
Another video reveals how he chose his team, which includes a former teacher and one of his best friends.
What followers want
Panayiotou, who has no political experience, also says he wants to make policies based on his followers’ opinions.
“We show a glimpse, with my candidacy, of a more direct democracy because my videos get thousands of comments and millions of views” he explains, claiming that he knows what people think and that he can transfer the will of the people to the Parliament — a vision of democracy that does not apply credibility filters or checks and balances.
“This is a very unique thing that not many people have.”
He has already applied this approach to one of the most important decisions to be taken this week: the vote on the president of the European Commission.
The influencer used a video to poll his followers on what to do; of the 300,000 participants, 75% advised him to vote against Ursula von der Leyen. The newly minted MEP promised to follow their advice.
