Cyprus elects new president in tight run-off election

• Cyprus voters are choosing between two career diplomats.
• They votes in a presidential run-off election.
• Which has divided the political right.

Cyprus voters are choosing between two career diplomats in a presidential run-off election that has divided the political right.

After Averof Neophytou, the leader of the ruling right-wing DISY party, was unexpectedly ousted in the first round of voting on February 5.

Nikos Christodoulides, a 49-year-old former foreign minister who is now running as an independent, enjoys a slim lead.

He will compete against Andreas Mavroyiannis, a 66-year-old self-described independent and former permanent representative of Cyprus to the UN who served as lead negotiator in peace negotiations with Turkish Cypriots, in the run-off election on Sunday.

While Mavroyiannis is supported by the left-wing AKEL, Christodoulides is backed by a scattering of center- and right-of-centre parties.

The election to successor conservative President Nicos Anastasiades, who served two terms in office, as head of state and administration of the small European Union member country, ends at 6 p.m. (16:00 GMT).

Anastasiades, of DISY, has stated that he supports the party line despite being legally barred from running for a third term.

The next president will have to deal with a variety of issues, including labor disputes caused by runaway inflation, a stalemate in efforts to reunite the island’s Turkish Cypriot population, the impact from corruption scandals, and an increase in migration.

According to Andreas Theophanous of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs think tank, many disgruntled voters would simply choose “the least worst candidate”—a trait that is present in most elections but is more pronounced in this one.

In order to succeed Anastasiades as the eighth president of the republic, the victor needs 50 percent plus one vote.

Adding that “this is our obligation,” the outgoing president urged Cypriots to turn out “en masse to participate in this democratic process.

The majority chooses, the people decide, and the minority respects the majority.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded its northern third in retaliation for a Greek-backed coup.

However, voters didn’t seem to agree on whether the division should have been a top election concern.

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