Ex-foreign minister Christodoulides wins Cyprus presidential vote
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Loading... - Abigail Ndirangu
- 13 Feb 2023
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Turnout for the runoff stood at 72.2 percent, marginally higher than in the first round of voting.
Cyprus voters have elected the former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides as the next president of the small European Union member state, with his rival conceding defeat and congratulating him.
Christodoulides, 49, defeated fellow diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis with 51.9 percent of the vote compared to 48.1 percent on the divided Mediterranean island on Sunday.
Mavroyiannis, 66, told reporters: “Tonight a journey has ended, a great journey that I shared with thousands of people. I regret we couldn’t achieve the change that Cyprus needed.”
Christodoulides, who defected from the conservative ruling DISY party to run as an independent, scored 32 percent a week ago against 29.6 percent for Mavroyiannis, who also ran as an independent backed by the communist AKEL party.
Widely tapped as the election favourite during the campaign, Christodoulides is seen likely to take a hard line on moribund United Nations-backed talks on ending the island’s decades-old division.
Former top diplomat Christodoulides earlier voiced confidence about a win when he told reporters: “The Cypriot people know and understand what is at stake … I have complete confidence in their judgement.” Read More…
