Nikos Christodoulides was elected President of Cyprus in the second and final round of voting on Sunday.
The former Cypriot foreign minister won 51.9 percent of support in a runoff vote, according to results announced by Cyprus’ state broadcaster, which turned out to be more difficult than initially expected. He was running against career diplomat Andreas Mavrouiannis, who received 48.1 percent of the vote. The opening ceremony will take place later on Sunday night.
Christodoulides, 49, comes from the ruling right-wing Democratic Rally party (DISY) but was running as an independent with the support of center and centre-right parties. Former chief negotiator in peace talks with Turkish Cypriots and Cyprus’ former permanent representative to the United Nations, 66-year-old Mavroyiannis was also running as an independent with the support of the Communist-rooted AKEL party.
The newly elected president will face formidable challenges during his five-year term: steering the country through emerging geopolitics; Dealing with growing financial crises and increased migration; to repair the national image tainted by corruption scandals; and finding a way to break the impasse in reunification talks on ethnically divided Cyprus. Christodoulides is known to be a hard liner regarding the Cyprus reunification issue.
In his first remarks after being elected, he said, “The reunification of our country is a top priority for me.”
Christodoulides consistently led all opinion polls during the election campaign, establishing himself as a candidate who could bridge party affiliations and unite fragmented voters.
He replaces outgoing conservative President Nikos Anastasiades, who has been at the helm of the Mediterranean island for a decade and by law could not seek a third term. Christodoulides has been one of Anastasiades’ closest allies, having served as his diplomatic advisor, government spokesman, and then foreign minister.
When he announced his candidacy, Christodoulides broke ranks with his own party DISY and its leader, Averof Neophyto, thus splitting the conservative vote. This is the first time in its history that DISY did not make it into the runoff vote.
The fractured party called on its members to vote according to their conscience, with some of its members calling Christodoulides a traitor, while others seemed particularly wary of the prospect of AKEL’s candidate being elected.
“The day after the election, those who supported me and those who did not support me will be contacted so that we can work collectively,” Christodoulides said last week. “The unity of DISY will not be affected; There is no question of division.
“You don’t need to be in government to behave responsibly for your country,” Neofitou said late Sunday. “The new president must count on DISY support.”
Cyprus has been divided between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south since Turkey’s 1974 invasion, which came in response to a Greece-backed coup d’état. Ankara does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, a member state of the European Union that is otherwise internationally recognized as the sole sovereign authority over the entire island. Several attempts to find a compromise solution over the years have failed, the last in 2017.
The Turkish north has hardened its stance since the election of leader Ersin Tatar in 2020, pushing for a hardline two-state solution, even as the United Nations is pushing for a bi-sectarian federation.