Cypriot parliament members face backlash over controversial video

On October 12, 2026, the Cypriot House Human Rights Committee addressed a controversy involving two members of the Direct Democracy party, Yiannis Laouris and Diana Konstantinidou. The parliamentarians had previously posted a video claiming that attendees of a committee discussion on neurotechnology were unable to comprehend the subject matter. The incident triggered strong reactions from other committee members, who accused the duo of breaching the parliamentary code of conduct and suggested the video was an attempt to discredit colleagues to secure control over a future ad hoc committee on artificial intelligence.

During the session, House President Christos Christofides condemned the remarks and urged the members to retract their statements. In response, Yiannis Laouris offered an apology, stating that the video was not intended to belittle the intelligence of his colleagues. However, Diana Konstantinidou defended their actions, asserting their right to engage in political critique as they see fit, and denied any breach of the conduct code. She noted that she was surprised by the intense backlash and reserved the right to address the matter further as the situation develops.