The former head of diplomacy of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, supported by the centrist parties, came first on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election on the divided European island, ahead of another diplomat supported by the Communist Party.
With 32.04% of the vote, Nikos Christodoulides will face in the second round February 12 Andreas Mavroyiannis, who won 29.58% of the vote.
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.
"Today Cyprus spoke. (The country) spoke clearly," Mr Christodoulides said on Sunday evening. "I remain faithful to my desire for a government with a broader horizon. We are not leaving anyone out."
Mr. Mavroyiannis had for his part already said that he refused any coalition with the extreme right.
The nearly 561,000 Greek-Cypriot voters, preoccupied with corruption scandals and runaway inflation on their nearly half-century-divided island, had a choice of 14 candidates to succeed 76-year-old right-wing President Nicos Anastasiades. years.
Turnout reached 72.03%, slightly higher than in the 2018 presidential election.
"We need a head of state who takes into account families, the working class," said Fotos Constantinou, 50, after voting in Nicosia. "We are on autopilot mode 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 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 invaded the northern third of the island in 1974 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 self-proclaimed and recognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) only via Ankara, where the Turkish-Cypriots live.
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, in particular of energy and food, remains in 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 campaign, 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 problem of Cyprus (the division of the island) is a secondary subject," said Giorgos Kentas, 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 issue, Mr. Christodoulides is considered a "hawk" and wants the EU to isolate Turkey.
Mr Mavroyiannis softened his position to be in line 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.
05/02/2023 21:26:39 - Nicosia (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
