NICOSIA, February 13: Former Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides won the second round of elections on Sunday and will be the next president of Cyprus, director polling officer Costas Constantinou announced after counting all the ballots.
Christodoulides, who ran as an independent, received 51.97 percent of the vote, compared to 48.03 percent for his opponent, Andreas Mavroyiannis, who also ran as an independent and was supported by the leftist AKEL party.
Christodoulides will take office on March 1 to succeed Nicos Anastasiades, who has already served two terms and could not seek re-election under the law.
Christodoulides has served under Anastasiades as director of the President’s Diplomatic Office, government spokesman, and foreign minister.
Election analyst Yiannis Mavris told CyBC television voters for the right-wing DISY party tipped the balance in favor of Christodoulides, even though he caused a split in the party by running against its leader, Averof Neophytou. Christodoulides was a DISY official before presenting his candidacy.
Christodoulides invited DISY to participate in a “generally accepted government” that he plans to announce, but the party rejected the offer, saying it would act as a “responsible opposition.”
The new Cypriot president will face several pressing challenges, including restarting stalled reunification negotiations, preventing a rise in illegal immigration and resolving labor disputes amid high inflation.
Presidential elections are held in Cyprus every five years.
The Director of Canvassing said that 406,616 of the approximately 561,000 registered voters voted in the runoff, which equates to approximately 72.5 percent turnout.
Christodoulides wins Cyprus presidential election
