Status: 05.02.2023 9:12 p.m
The polls had predicted it: In the presidential elections in Cyprus, none of the candidates achieved an absolute majority. Former foreign minister Christodoulidis and diplomat Mavrogiannis are running in the runoff.
The future president of the island republic of Cyprus will be determined in a run-off election on February 12. In the first round of the presidential election, none of the candidates achieved the necessary absolute majority. After counting almost all votes, former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis received almost 32 percent of the votes, according to the Interior Ministry.
The diplomat Andreas Mavrogiannis, who is supported by the Left Party AKEL, came in second with around 29.7 percent of the votes. He thus wins an exciting duel for second place against the representative of the conservative party (DISY), Averof Neofytou, who received 26.2 percent, as the Interior Ministry further announced.
President appoints and leads government
The election is considered important because the president, elected directly by the people, appoints and leads the government. Election experts and analysts expect intensive negotiations between the two candidates in the runoff election and the loser of the first round, Neofytou, in the coming days.
Polls give Christodoulidis, who is also conservative, more chances of winning the runoff. The left-backed Mavrogiannis is at a disadvantage as he now has to court voters across the conservative and centrist spectrum.
Deadlocked talks with North Cyprus since 2017
The first task of the new head of state will be to restart the talks to end the division of the Mediterranean island, which have been deadlocked since 2017. The northern part, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, has only been internationally recognized by the government in Ankara since partition in 1974. For this reason, only the southern part of the island was elected. The Turkish Cypriot north does not take part in the political events of the south.
The new President will also have to dedicate himself to the fight against nepotism. In addition, the increasing number of asylum seekers is considered a problem. According to EU statistics, the small island republic of Cyprus registers by far the most asylum applications per year in relation to the size of the population. In 2021, 13,260 asylum applications were received there.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 after a Greek coup and Turkish military intervention. The buffer zone between the two parts of the island is monitored by United Nations peacekeepers. The Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the EU since 2004. However, EU law only applies in the south of the island.