Cyprus will next Sunday vote for its new President at a runoff election, with candidates Nikos Christodoulides and Andreas Mavroyiannis competing for the country’s top office.
Independent candidate and former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides is the winner of the first round of the presidential elections that took place on Sunday in Cyprus receiving 32.04% of votes (127,305 votes). Christodoulides, backed mainly by center parties DIKO, EDEK and DIPA, will face next Sunday independent candidate, former Greek Cypriot negotiator for the Cyprus talks and diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis who received 29.60% (117,627) of votes and is backed mainly by left wing AKEL.
Democratic Rally President and candidate Averof Neofytou held third place with 26.11% (103,755). Far right wing ELAM President Christos Christou received 6.04% (24,002) followed by lawyer Achilleas Demetriades 2.04% (8,124), leader of New Wave Movement Constantinos Christofides with 1.59% (6,321), lawyer George Colocassides 1.33% (5,284), Alexios Savvides 0.60% (2,393), Charalambos Aristotelous 0.22% (866), Celestina De Petro 0.14% (574), Andronikos Zervides 0.09% (341), Yulia Khovrina Komninos 0.08% (331), Andreas Efstratiou 0.08% (299) and Loukas Stavrou 0.04% (165).
Of the 561,273 registered voters, a total of 404,403 or 72.05% cast their vote. Abstention reached 27.95% (156,870). Valid ballots were 397,387 or 98.27%, invalid ballots were 5,346 or 1.32% and blank were 1,670 or 0.41%.
Chief Returning Officer Costas Constantinou, who announced on Sunday evening the official final results of the first round of the 2023 Presidential Elections, gave instructions for the printing of the ballot papers for the runoff next Sunday.
After the announcement of the results, Christodoulides expressed certainty that he will be the winner of the runoff, noting that he will seek to have meetings with outgoing President, Nicos Anastasiades, and Democratic Party leader, Averof Neofytou, in view of the second round of the presidential elections.
Mavroyiannis called on voters “to fight this battle together,” with him, while noting that, the result was an honour for him and those who worked for his candidacy, adding that the goal of making it to the second round of the elections was achieved. He thanked the thousands of voters for their support, trust and strong mandate “to continue on the same path with ethics and honesty to raise our country even higher.”
Neofytou, said that the day after, would be discussed at a meeting of the party’s political office on Monday, stressing that the decision on the party’s stance will be taken collectively after its bodies evaluate the results. He also said he congratulated Christodoulides and Mavroyiannis.
Candidates who failed to secure a place in the second round of the presidential elections in statements after the announcement of the results, thanked their supporters and made statements on their future decisions and the second round.
ELAM leader Christos Christou who came fourth with 6.04% of the votes said that his party managed to establish itself as the fourth political force in Cyprus. He said that they will decide in the following days which of the two candidates they will support in the second round, based on the replies of a questionnaire they will send to both of them.
Achilleas Demetriades who received 2.04% of the votes said that he is “here to stay”, adding that his candidacy could have secured a bigger percentage of the votes. He also said that on Thursday he will announce who he will back in the run-off.
Constantinos Christofides who secured 1.59% of the votes thanked all those who voted for him. Posting on his twitter account Christophides also conveyed his gratitude to his associates adding that this was just the beginning and they all made the first step.
George Colocassides who secured 1.33% of the votes congratulated Christodoulides and Mavroyiannis for their success and thanked everyone who supported him. He said that his supporters never deviated from their values and principles and stood by him making personal sacrifices, with transparency and honesty. He added that his supporters should be proud for giving the battle with pride.
Political party leaders also made on Sunday evening statements to the press, following the outcome of the presidential elections.
Stefanos Stefanou, General Secretary of left-wing AKEL party that backs Mavroyiannis’ candidacy, said that the election outcome demonstrates that AKEL’s choice to support Mavroyiannis was the right one and added that the prospects for winning the elections on the second Sunday are very good. He said they were “satisfied”, because the decision to support a candidate who puts the country’s interest above any party, was justified.
President of Democratic Party (DIKO), Nikolas Papadopoulos, who backs Christodoulides’ candidacy, said that Christodoulides’ determination to form a government of national unity, was applauded by the majority of the voters. Today there are no winners and losers, he said, adding that they will work for a strong economy, fiscal stability, social cohesion, commitment to Cyprus’ European role and for a functional and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem.
Leader of Social Democratic EDEK party, Marinos Sizopoulos, whose party also supports Christodoulides’ candidacy, noted that at a time when our ‘homeland is threatened by Turkey’s expansionist policy and our citizens continue to face the serious consequences of the economic crisis that began in 2010, we must, with moderation and above all, with unity and constructive synergy continue the effort to protect our homeland and support the vulnerable groups of the population in the context of a human-centered government policy.”
Marios Garoyian, leader of Democratic Alignment party (DEPA), that supports Christodoulides, said that there should be unity of forces and that neither conflicts, nor divisions, nor confrontations should separate us. He noted that this is the only path “so that our people and our country can survive”. Garoyian said that Christodoulides from the very beginning had expressed this position, which was embraced by a strong majority of the people.
Source: Cyprus News Agency