Cyprus elects new president amid economic doubts and ethnic divide

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cypriots are voting Sunday for a new president who they expect will decisively lead the small island nation through shifting geopolitical sands and uncertain economic times that have become a major concern of the people, eclipsing stalled efforts to fix ethnic turmoil in the country. separation.

The months-long campaign has been lackluster, primarily because all three leading candidates are close associates of outgoing President Nikos Anastasiades, and so their battles have focused on trying to convince voters that they are not all made of the same fabric.

At the same time, they are catching voices from different ideologies in an attempt to evade the long shadow cast by the right-wing Anastasiades, whose detractors accuse him of fueling corruption during his two 10-year terms. possession. Anastasiadis vehemently denied the allegations.

From a record list of 14 candidates, the leaders include Averof Neofitou, leader of the centre-right, pro-business Democratic Unification Party (DISY), formerly led by Anastasiades; and Nikos Christodoulidis, former foreign minister and government representative in the Anastasiadis administration. The third main candidate is Andreas Mavroyannis, a former diplomat and Anastasiades’ lead negotiator with the Turkish Cypriot breakaway peace talks.

Opinion polls show that none of the three will get more than half of the votes – the bar for an outright victory in the first round. Instead, the top two will most likely advance to the second round in a week. About 561,000 citizens have the right to vote.

Opinion polls have consistently given Christodoulides a lead of as much as 10 points over Neophytou and Mavroyiannis, meaning he is likely to take one spot in the runoff while others are vying for another spot.

The “Anastasiades connection” has been a central theme for voters, but also for the president himself, who in a recent interview with leading daily newspaper Phileleftheros boasted that he felt “certainly justified” in his leadership by the fact that three of his associates are fighting for him. place.

Neophytou, 61, took over the reins of DISY from Anastasiadis a decade ago and has promoted his reputation as a seasoned politician who can get the job done and steer the economy in difficult times. His “Averof Can” campaign slogan, reminiscent of former US President Barack Obama’s “Yes we can” mantra, is built around this message.

But it was that reputation that apparently hurt him in the election, as many voters perceived him as an insider pulling too much strings, tinged with the “sins” of Anastasiades’ decade in office, such as the now-defunct “investment in exchange for… citizenship programs.” which sparked accusations of corruption. Neophytou was desperate to consolidate DISY’s vote for his bid, as polls showed up to a third of party members backing Christodoulides, who got his political start through the party.

A career diplomat with a successful track record, Mavroyiannis, 66, is running as an independent but enjoys the backing of the Communist-based AKEL party. Although AKEL is the second largest party on the island, the ill-fated presidency of its late leader Dimitris Christofias 15 years ago, which critics say brought the island near bankruptcy, continues to burden the party and, to some extent, Mavroyiannis himself.

Mavroyiannis is campaigning as an agent of change who, unlike his rivals, did not have a hand in the “10 years that really hurt” the country.

Christodoulidis is also a career diplomat. At the age of 49, he has carefully crafted his image as an effective and modern leader who can communicate confidently with other leaders of the European Union thanks to his experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His youth and soft-spoken approach endeared him to voters who do not associate him with the ineffectual bombast of the previous political generation. However, he is considered a “traitor” by some DISY adherents for standing up to the party boss and dividing his votes.

Whoever wins will, like many other EU leaders, have to contend with an economy hit by Russia’s war in Ukraine and its direct impact on the cost of living. Cyprus has seen economic growth, but opinion polls show widespread public anxiety about high inflation.

The new president will also need to address the continued massive influx of migrants that has made Cyprus one of the top EU countries in per capita asylum applications.

He is also likely to want to accelerate the development of significant underwater natural gas fields in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus amid a renewed search for alternative energy sources caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A quick political settlement resolving the island’s nearly half-century-old ethnic division could help, but the outlook looks bleak as the parties now seem more distant from each other than at any time since the split occurred in 1974 when Turkey invaded after coup d’état aimed at unification. with Greece.

The demand by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to recognize the breakaway state before the start of peace talks is seen as futile and condemned by the EU, US and others.

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