First round of presidential elections for his nomination 8th President of the Republic of Cyprus will take place tomorrow, Sunday, February 5th. With 14 candidates, a record number, polls are expected to open at 7am in 1,150 polling stations on the island and 35 in a dozen more countries to allow some 560,000 registered voters to exercise their right to vote.

In all polls conducted, it is expected that the independent candidate will be the first to cut the thread. Nikos Christodoulidessupported by DIKO, EDEK, DIPA and Solidarity, having as its guiding philosophy the formation of a universally recognized government, without giving up its party identity and still declaring itself a member of DISY.

In fact, he often notes that if he is elected, DISY must be present in the new government, although he himself is accused by his party of not following internal procedures and intending to put forward his candidacy. Nikos Christodoulidis served as Foreign Minister of the current government from March 1, 2018 until January 9, 2022, when he announced his resignation. Of particular interest is the fact that the clear leadership of Nikos Christodoulidis has been maintained throughout one of the longest pre-election periods in the modern history of the island, beginning on December 21, 2021, when the president of the ruling party, Averof Neophytouput forward his candidacy.

Averof Neophytou, President of the ruling DISY and all these years a close associate of the President of the Republic, Nikos Anastasiadis, although he entered the race very early, did not seem to be able to largely rally his party’s voters, while they ended up deadlocked and cooperative efforts with the forces of the Center, who eventually decided to follow Nikos Christodoulides.

An independent candidate is also participating in the presidential battle Andreas Mavroyannis, who put forward his candidacy with the support of the Left Party AKEL, and on his side are also individual leaders of the Ecological Movement, since the Movement has officially decided to vote according to its conscience. Andreas Mavroyannis, a seasoned diplomat, has been a key negotiator for the Greek Cypriot side on the Cyprus issue over the past decade.

Both Andreas Mavroyannis and Averof Neophytou, according to all opinion polls, will be in contention for second place leading to a runoff next Sunday. In fact, the percentages he cited are within the statistical error, so everything is fluid, and the interest of employees, analysts, journalists and citizens is focused on the fight for second place, which cannot be ruled out until the last vote.

Three are at a safe distance from the rest, but independent candidate Achilleas Dimitriadis follows him with a few percentage points, as does the president of ELAM. Christ to Christwho are likely to play their part by announcing the candidate they will support in the second round of the presidential election. As for the second election campaign on February 12, since no candidate can get more than 50% of the vote, and the law provides for the election of the president from the first Sunday, everything seems to be clearing up. Judging by the opinion polls, whoever is Nikos Christodoulides’ opponent is unlikely to achieve a unity beyond his percentages.

Change of scenery

What is certain is that these elections created the conditions for a possible change in the political scene in Cyprus, since the exclusion of one of the two main parties from the second round of the electoral struggle will inevitably cause intra-party unrest and provoke developments.