Cyprus presidential election goes to runoff
Reuters
Published Feb 04, 2023 08:14PM ET
Updated Feb 05, 2023 01:47PM ET
By Michele Kambas
NICOSIA (Reuters) -Former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides took the lead in Cyprus's presidential election on Sunday and will face off against leftist-backed candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis in a runoff on Feb. 12.
Christodoulides, running as an independent, took 32% of the vote, with career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis, backed by the left-wing AKEL party and generally considered an outsider by opinion polls, presenting the surprise at 29.6%.
Mavroyiannis's showing defied opinion polls which had shown he would likely trail in third place and would be left out of the runoff. But he had the backing of AKEL, a well-organised party which had cranked up the rallying of its supporters in the past month.
"It comes down to Mavroyiannis having the full backing of a party and that Averof (Neophytou) probably didn't," said analyst Fiona Mullen of Sapienta Economics, referring to third-placed Averof Neophytou, leader of the ruling right-wing DISY party. "Its an extraordinary result," she added.
Neophytou had been publicly endorsed by incumbent President Nicos Anastasiades, who by law cannot seek a second five-year term, but his candidacy was overshadowed by Christodoulides, a party member who broke ranks with DISY to run.
Opinion polls had shown Christodoulides gaining roughly one-third of the DISY votes.
The two frontrunners from Sunday's vote will now have a week to win over voters, after which the victor will have to wrestle with how to break a deadlock in reunification talks on ethnically split Cyprus, as well as with irregular migration, labour disputes, and repairing the country's image tarnished by corruption scandals.
Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek-inspired coup. The last round of peace talks collapsed in 2017.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.