Cyprus' former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides won the presidential election in the divided eastern Mediterranean island on Sunday, promising a non-partisan government in which women would have a large place.
Aged 49, this man who was supported by center parties is the youngest head of state ever elected to lead Cyprus. He will take office on March 1.
He won 51.97% of the vote (or 204,867 votes) against 48.03% for his rival, Andreas Mavroyiannis, supported by the communist party Akel, according to the latest figures from the government's electoral service. The participation rate was 72.4%.
After the announcement of his victory, Mr. Christodoulides said he wanted a "50-50" government, with an equal number of women and men, and which could benefit from "broad social support". Only two women are currently in the cabinet of outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades.
In these press statements, he said he wanted to meet the leaders of the Disy (right) and Akel parties, even though he was elected without the support of either of these two heavyweights in the Cypriot political landscape.
The election was presented as tight: Nikos Christodoulides, head of diplomacy between 2018 and 2022, came out on top in the first round, on February 5, with 32.04% of the vote, slightly ahead of another seasoned diplomat, Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66 (29.59%), former ambassador to France and Ireland.
Both presented themselves as independents.
The new president succeeds the conservative Nicos Anastasiades, 76, who is completing two five-year terms and to whom he was deemed very close.
After the defeat of its candidate in the first round, the party of Mr. Anastasiades, Disy, which excluded Mr. Christodoulides for having applied against the opinion of the party, had refused to give voting instructions, leaving the game open.
Rising energy and food prices remain top of mind for Cypriots. Inflation reached 10.9% in 2022, before slowing in January to 7.1%.
The Communists, who backed Mr Mavroyiannis, have come under heavy criticism for their handling of the 2012-2013 financial crisis, which nearly pushed eurozone member Cyprus into bankruptcy.
Vasso Pelekanou, a 47-year-old woman interviewed at a polling station in Nicosia, believes the new president should help the middle classes, which she says have been abandoned by the outgoing government. "The rich have become even richer," she laments.
Dora Petsa, 75, a retiree, expected the future president "to settle the Cyprus question [the division of the island] so that we can live together with the Cypriot-Turks".
The new head of state will thus be called upon to relaunch talks on the reunification of the island, which have been on hold since 2017. Cyprus has been divided since Turkey's invasion in 1974 of its northern third, in response to a coup d'etat by Cypriot-Greek nationalists who wanted to attach the country to Greece.
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 self-proclaimed and recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) only by Ankara.
Mr Mavroyiannis, former head of the Cypriot-Greek negotiators in the reunification talks (2013-2022), had promised if elected to reopen talks from day one. Mr. Christodoulides takes a tougher stance.
The fight against corruption also dominated the electoral debate, especially after the "golden passport" scandal. This program of granting passports against investments on the island had to be canceled due to allegations of corruption.
Another sensitive subject on this island close to the coasts of the Middle East and Turkey: the influx of migrants, for which the two candidates had promised to act. Authorities say 6% of the 915,000 people living in the south of the island are asylum seekers.
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell congratulated Mr. Christodoulides on Twitter, saying he hoped to continue to cooperate on "important subjects for Cyprus", in particular by paving the way towards "a solution to the Cyprus problem".
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also offered his congratulations to the president-elect during a telephone interview with Mr. Christodoulides, according to the Greek news agency Ana.
02/12/2023 21:56:00 - Nicosia (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
