WORLD NEWS | Ex-Minister Kristulides Wins Cyprus Presidential Election

Nicosia, Feb 12 (AP) Former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides was elected as the new president of Cyprus in a runoff election Sunday.

His rival, veteran diplomat Andreas Mavroianis, conceded defeat.

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According to the official election results, after 100% of the votes were counted, Christodolid received 51.9% of the vote, while Myroyiannis received 48.1%.

Kristodulides, 49, is running as a unifying force in ethnically divided Cyprus, shunning ideological and partisan divides. His message resonated with a broad swath of voters.

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Mavroyiannis, formerly Cyprus’ ambassador to the United Nations. Positioning itself as an agent of change ushers in a new political era after a decade under outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades.

But the support he has drawn from the communist-rooted AKEL party may drive swing voters back to Christodolides.

Mavroyiannis, 66, who was also Anastasiades’ chief negotiator with the Turkish Cypriots who broke away from the country, told a group of dispirited supporters that he would not be in politics. On pursuing an “active and day-to-day role”, but still willing to advise the New Deal government if asked.

“I want to congratulate Nikos Christodoulides on his election victory and wish him more power,” Mavroianis said.

“I am saddened that we have not been able to deliver on the hopes and expectations of the massive incremental change our country needs.”

Christodoulides appears to have won with the support of members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DISY), whose leader, Averof Neophytou, failed to reach the runoff.

DISY leadership has decided not to formally support either candidate, instead letting members of the country’s largest political party vote as they see fit.

Many DISY party figures accused longtime party member Christodoulides of running against Neophytou and splitting the party vote.

However, many do not want Mavroyiannis’ main backer, AKEL, to regain a firm foothold in the government and worry that the diplomat’s becoming the next Cyprus president threatens the country’s fragile economy and pro-Western trajectory.

Critics accuse AKEL of bringing Cyprus to the brink of bankruptcy a decade ago and maintaining a pro-Moscow leaning.

Amid the debate within DISY, former party leader Anastasiades took the unusual step of issuing a statement suggesting that DISY members should try to thwart the AKEL-backed government.

He urged his party’s voters to preserve the island’s Western orientation and its deepening alliance with the United States, and to maintain fiscal discipline while dealing effectively with the influx of illegal immigrants.

Trying to mend fences with Christodoulides and divisions within DISY, Neophytou said the president-elect could count on the party’s support “for the good of the country.”

Christoulides inherited the challenge of trying to revive stalled peace talks with the country’s Turkish Cypriots, who declared independence nearly a decade after Turkey invaded in 1974 in a coup aimed at uniting it with Greece.

Despite progress in the form of a comprehensive peace agreement, the island’s unification has eluded politicians in more than half a century of negotiations.

A potential settlement was further complicated after talks broke down in the Swiss resort in 2017, with many believing talks were very close to a breakthrough.

Turkey, the only country to recognize the independence of the minority Turkish Cypriots, has since rejected the United Nations-backed arrangement for a federation of Cyprus.

It advocates a two-state agreement, which the UN, EU, US and others have rejected.

A government spokesman and Anastasiades’ close confidant at the time, Christodoulides was a key insider in the failed Swiss peace movement.

He blamed Turkey’s insistence on maintaining a permanent military presence and right of military intervention in reunited Cyprus as the main reason for the breakdown in talks.

Christodolides said he opposed both of Turkey’s demands, but would use Cyprus’ EU membership to approach Ankara on ways to break the current impasse.

On the economy, Christodoulides said the priority was to maintain fiscal discipline without endangering the country’s social safety net.

The president-elect also aims to expedite development on newly discovered natural gas deposits off Cyprus’ south coast as Europe grapples with an energy crunch.

“Mr. Christodoulides’ candidacy is an opportunity for the people of Cyprus to turn the page, with a new style of governance, with humanitarianism as the primary goal,” said Voter Neophytos Makrides, 58, as he cast his ballot in Paphos.

“Against corruption, support the right solution to the Cyprus problem.” (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)