Cyprus holds presidential elections provocations are expected
2023.02.05 06:17
Cyprus holds presidential elections provocations are expected
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – On Sunday, Cypriots went to the polls to elect a new president, whose responsibilities will include resolving a stalemate in reunification talks, addressing irregular migration, and restoring the country’s damaged reputation due to corruption scandals.
A runoff will take place on Feb. 12 unless a major upset occurs on Sunday. This will set the stage for the runoff.
There are 14 candidates, but the vote is likely to be close between former foreign minister Nikos Christodouldes, who leads the polls, Averof Neophytou, leader of the right-wing DISY party, and career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis, who is supported by the left-wing AKEL party.
Since the incumbent right-wing President Nicos Anastasiades is prohibited by law from running for a third five-year term, all three of the main contenders have been close associates of him.
According to polls, participation will be low. In the most recent election, which took place in 2018, approximately 28% of voters chose not to participate.
Due to its lucrative citizenship-for-investment program, Anastasiades’ administration was the target of a corruption scandal in 2020. A government inquiry found that the system had been operating without adequate oversight for years and that hundreds of passports had been issued in an illegal manner.
During the same time, the island had to deal with an increase in irregular migration, mostly through a porous buffer zone that divides the island between the internationally recognized south and a Turkish Cypriot north that is trying to break away.
Christodoulides ran for president despite distancing himself from his own party and its leader, Neophytou. Additionally, he has the support of political parties that have traditionally taken a firm stance when discussing reunification.
“We ought to be united on the day after the elections. “The elections will end, but the problems and challenges that lie ahead of us remain,” he told reporters while supporters applauded.
After a brief Greek-inspired coup in 1974, Cyprus was divided by an invasion by Turkey. In 2017, the most recent round of peace talks failed.
According to some, the three differ more in style than in substance. According to Sapienta Economics director Fiona Mullen, “I think that is probably least in the case of Mavroyiannis, and more in the case of Christodoulides.”
She went on to say, “On foreign policy, I think Christodoulides is going to be closer to how Anastasiades was in his final years,” describing that policy as “more assertive.”
While Christodoulides was foreign minister in 2020, Cyprus withdrew for about a month from sanctions imposed by the European Union on Belarus because the island nation desired additional EU action against Turkey in the dispute over offshore gas resources.
