Cyprus proposes ban on advertising for foreign election campaigns — Cyprus Mail
Cypriot parliament member Yannis Laouris of the Direct Democracy party has submitted a bill to ban outdoor advertising and other notices used for campaigning in elections in other countries. The initiative emerged after controversy over billboards on Cypriot highways advertising Israeli candidate for prime minister Gadi Eisenkot, Cyprus Mail reports.
Consideration of the bill
The document will be sent for review by the parliamentary interior committee. After discussion, the committee will decide whether to bring it before a plenary session.
The bill provides for amendments to the advertising control law to ban outdoor advertising connected with election campaigns in other states. Laouris said the changes are needed to limit the uncontrolled use of outdoor advertising space for political campaigning and the promotion of candidates who are participating or intend to participate in foreign elections.
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Controversy over Israeli billboards
At the end of July, billboards supporting Eisenkot, the founder of Israel's Yashar party and former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, appeared along motorways. One billboard near Larnaca Airport addressed Israelis with wishes to have a good time, while another, placed on the road to the airport, called on them to return and win.
Eisenkot's campaign headquarters confirmed that the advertising placement was aimed at the many Israeli tourists visiting Cyprus ahead of Israel's prime ministerial election on October 27. The billboards drew criticism on social media. The leader of Direct Democracy, Fidias Panayiotou, then called for a complete ban on election campaigns by other states in Cyprus.
At the time the advertisements appeared, legislation did not prohibit foreign political parties from purchasing advertising space in Cyprus outside local election periods. The Interior Ministry said it had no legal basis to regulate the content of such advertising, while Niche Advertising described the placement of the posters as an ordinary commercial transaction. One of the billboards near Larnaca Airport was later splashed with paint in the colors of the Palestinian flag.
