Incumbent faces tight run-off in Cyprus president vote

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‍Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades faces a tense run-off against a dovish challenger after he failed to win a majority at a vote Sunday despite finishing first.

Final official results put the conservative incumbent on 35.5 percent ahead of Communist AKEL-backed Stavros Malas on 30.25 percent as the divided Mediterranean island eyes a fresh push to reunite.

The two candidates will go head-to-head in the second round of voting next Sunday which looks set to be tight.

Anastasiades – who is seeking a second and final five-year term in the European Union's most easterly member – has pledged to restart talks promptly with the Turkish-backed north after they collapsed last year in acrimony.

Cyprus presidential candidate Nicos Anastasiades of the right-wing Democratic Rally party casts his ballot with the help of his grandson at a polling station in Limassol, Cyprus January 28, 2018. /VCG Photo

Malas, a former health minister who lost out to Anastasiades in 2013, is firmly in favor of a deal to reunite the country and has criticized the president for not going far enough.

"The trend is for a solution," said political analyst Christophoros Christophorou after the strong results for the candidates keenest on reunification.

"But we cannot forecast that this will mean a final deal will be reached."

There now looks set to be intense jockeying behind the scenes to secure the support of the losing candidates, above all third place finisher Nikolas Papadopoulos, a former president's son who takes a stricter line on talks.

Independent Presidential candidate of left-wing AKEL party Stavros Malas addresses journalists following the results of the first round of the presidential election in Nicosia, Cyprus January 28, 2018. /VCG Photo

"With the margin between Anastasiades and Malas not too large every vote counts," analyst Christophorou told AFP.

Turnout was well down on five years ago at 71.4 percent as apathy among young voters fed up with an insular system appears on the rise.

Former lawyer Anastasiades – under the slogan "Steady Steps Forward" – has taken credit for an impressive recovery by the European Union's most easterly member since a debilitating financial crisis in 2013.

AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou insisted Malas' stronger than expected showing in proved "we can rid ourselves of the Anastasiades administration."

"The Cypriot people have voted for change," he said.

Source(s): AFP