Former Cyprus foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides, backed by centrist parties, came out on top in Sunday's first round of presidential elections on the divided European island, beating another diplomat backed by the Communist Party. With 32.04% of the vote, Nikos Christodoulides will face in the second round on February 12 Andreas Mavroyiannis, who won 29.58% of the vote, according to official figures.
Averof Neofytou, 61, drops out of the race. With 26.11% of the vote, he suffered an unprecedented failure for a leader of a ruling party, the conservative Disy party. In fourth place, the far-right Elam party won 6% of the vote. The roughly 561,000 Greek-Cypriot voters had a choice of 14 candidates to succeed 76-year-old right-wing President Nicos Anastasiades.
Worried about corruption scandals and runaway inflation on their nearly half-century-divided island, at least 72.03% of some 561,000 Cypriot voters cast their ballots, slightly more than in the previous poll in 2018. "We need a head of state who takes families, the working class into account," said 50-year-old voter Fotos Constantinou after voting in Nicosia. "We're on autopilot and we don't know where the plane is going. »
Favorite in the ballot, Nikos Christodoulides, 49, Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2018 and 2022, called on Sunday for "unity", the only way to "really meet the expectations of the Cypriot people". Supported by the centrist parties, he nevertheless presents himself as an "independent" candidate. Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66, supported by the Communist Party Akel, is also a diplomat, former chief negotiator in the talks on reunification (2013-2022).
A member of the European Union since 2004, Cyprus has been divided since Turkey's 1974 invasion of the northern third of the island, in response to a coup by Greek-Cypriot nationalists who wanted to reunite the country with Greece. . Reunification talks have stalled since 2017. The Republic of Cyprus only exercises authority over the southern part of the island, separated by the Green Line, a UN-controlled demilitarized zone, from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), self-proclaimed and recognized only by Ankara, where the Cypriots-Turks live. For Hubert Faustmann, professor of politics and history at the University of Nicosia, this "strange" vote put in competition "three favorites [...] linked to the current president".
First challenge for the future leader: inflation, which reached 10.9% in 2022. Despite a slowdown in January, to 7.1%, the rise in prices, particularly of energy and food, remains head of concern and the country experienced a general strike at the end of January. Andreas Maliapis, a 29-year-old customs officer, did not hide his concern. “We are living through a difficult period between (the Covid pandemic) and the war in Ukraine,” he sighs. “Life has become more expensive for me in the past three years. »
The fight against corruption also dominated the debate, especially after the scandal of the "golden passports", a device which had to be canceled due to allegations of corruption, tarnishing the image of the government of Mr. Anastasiades. “Corruption is at the heart of the debate, like the economy and daily life. The Cyprus problem (the division of the island) is a secondary topic,” said Giorgos Kentas, a professor at the University of Nicosia.
The influx of migrants is another sensitive subject on this island in the eastern Mediterranean. Authorities say 6% of the 915,000 people living in the south of the island are asylum seekers. Nicosia criticizes Ankara for orchestrating a large part of the arrival of Syrian refugees and African migrants via the green line.
The future president will rightly be called upon to relaunch the peace talks. On this file, Mr. Christodoulides is considered a "hawk" and wants the EU to isolate Turkey. Mr Mavroyiannis softened his stance to agree with the Akel party line. The UN-sponsored diplomatic process has stumbled in particular on the presence of 40,000 Turkish soldiers in the TRNC.
