High turnout as Cypriots vote for new president
Published: 04:02 PM,Feb 05,2023 | EDITED : 08:02 PM,Feb 05,2023
NICOSIA: Cypriots voted in large numbers on Sunday in a close presidential election between three front runners, with the focus on corruption and the economy amid deadlock over the island's long-standing division.
A record 14 candidates -- but only two women -- are standing, with the winner needing 50 per cent plus one vote to succeed two-term President Nicos Anastasiades.
There was a strong turnout, with 312,008 votes cast by 3 pm, chief returning officer Costas Constantinou said.
That figure constitutes 55.6 per cent of the electorate -- a 4.7 per cent increase on the same time during the last presidential election in 2018.
Opinion polls predict a run-off on February 12, with no contender expected to secure an immediate outright majority. 'I expect the next president to do something about corruption and to settle the Cyprus question,' said civil servant Andreas Georgiadis, 29, after voting in the capital Nicosia.
Many analysts say former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides is the favourite. Backed by centrist parties, the 49-year-old commands a firm lead in opinion polls but not enough to shake off his rivals.
He is likely to face off in the second round against either Andreas Mavroyiannis, a 66-year-old technocrat backed by communist party AKEL, or Averof Neofytou, 61, leader of the governing conservatives, DISY.
'Only through unity, through a collective effort, can we really meet the expectations of the Cypriot people,' said Christodoulides after voting in Paphos, in the island's southwest.
The last opinion poll by state broadcaster CyBC on January 27 had Christodoulides leading at 26.5 per cent, Neofytou at 22.5 per cent and Mavroyiannis at 21 per cent.
'All polls indicate that Christodoulides is going to the second round,' said Andreas Theophanous of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs.
'And if he goes to the second round, he is predicted to win.' Voters appeared concerned about a cash-for-passports scandal and the pressures of irregular migration on public resources, while the issue of the island's decades-old division remains at an impasse. -- AFP
A record 14 candidates -- but only two women -- are standing, with the winner needing 50 per cent plus one vote to succeed two-term President Nicos Anastasiades.
There was a strong turnout, with 312,008 votes cast by 3 pm, chief returning officer Costas Constantinou said.
That figure constitutes 55.6 per cent of the electorate -- a 4.7 per cent increase on the same time during the last presidential election in 2018.
Opinion polls predict a run-off on February 12, with no contender expected to secure an immediate outright majority. 'I expect the next president to do something about corruption and to settle the Cyprus question,' said civil servant Andreas Georgiadis, 29, after voting in the capital Nicosia.
Many analysts say former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides is the favourite. Backed by centrist parties, the 49-year-old commands a firm lead in opinion polls but not enough to shake off his rivals.
He is likely to face off in the second round against either Andreas Mavroyiannis, a 66-year-old technocrat backed by communist party AKEL, or Averof Neofytou, 61, leader of the governing conservatives, DISY.
'Only through unity, through a collective effort, can we really meet the expectations of the Cypriot people,' said Christodoulides after voting in Paphos, in the island's southwest.
The last opinion poll by state broadcaster CyBC on January 27 had Christodoulides leading at 26.5 per cent, Neofytou at 22.5 per cent and Mavroyiannis at 21 per cent.
'All polls indicate that Christodoulides is going to the second round,' said Andreas Theophanous of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs.
'And if he goes to the second round, he is predicted to win.' Voters appeared concerned about a cash-for-passports scandal and the pressures of irregular migration on public resources, while the issue of the island's decades-old division remains at an impasse. -- AFP