Cyprus-born YouTuber Panayotu
Elected as Member of Parliament in This European Election
A YouTuber from Cyprus, known as a 'troublemaker' for filming videos such as fleeing without paying train tickets in Japan, has been elected as a member of the European Parliament.
On the 10th (local time), the British BBC reported that famous Cypriot YouTuber Pidias Panayotou was elected as an independent member of the European Parliament. Panayotou, who calls himself an 'expert in mistakes,' has about 2.4 million subscribers. Most of his videos consist of mischievous prank content. A representative example is the challenge of hugging 100 celebrities, including Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.
'Bad Boy' YouTuber Pdias Panayotu Achieves Hug Challenge with Elon Musk, Tesla CEO [Image Source=Instagram]
Last year, he stirred controversy by posting a video in Japan where he appeared to evade paying train fares properly. In the video, when his eyes met with a conductor checking tickets, he pretended to be ill and avoided eye contact. He also tried to endure without paying the fare until the end by moving to another train car.
Additionally, he posted content such as fleeing without paying after having breakfast at a five-star hotel and begging strangers for bus fare, which eventually led to him being taken to a police station, detained for five hours, and then released.
After posting such videos, criticism against Panayotou poured in locally in Japan, and he eventually posted an apology on social media, stating, "If I offended the feelings of the Japanese people, I apologize. Causing discomfort was not our goal."
Despite this past, Panayotou confidently won a seat in the European Parliament election this time. Earlier, he announced his candidacy in January and appeared on local Cypriot broadcasts wearing a suit jacket, shorts, and sneakers for an interview.
He traveled around the world posting controversial content that caused public outrage, but ultimately was elected to the European Parliament. [Image source=YouTube capture]
At that time, he said, "I have never voted in European elections, and I know nothing about the European Union (EU) or politics," but passionately added, "I can no longer endure the way Brussels (the political headquarters of the EU) is governed by 'nerds' like now."
Cyprus is an island country in the Mediterranean with a population of only 900,000. However, in this weekend's European elections, as many as 683,000 people visited polling stations. The voter turnout sharply increased from 45% in the previous election (2019) to 59% this year, and some experts have called this the 'Panayotou effect.'
After being elected, Panayotou said in an interview, "It is both shocking and miraculous that this happened," emphasizing, "The parliament should take this election as a warning. The people are urging political parties to listen to their voices and modernize."
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