Cyprus election: Presidential speed ‘heads for runoff’

Nicosia, Republic of Cyprus – The speed for president in Cyprus appears will stride to a runoff after incumbent conservative Nicos Anastasiades won the the first spherical but fell immediate of the 50 p.c considerable to create an outright majority, in accordance with early estimates.

An exit poll on Sunday by the CyBC inform broadcaster save improve for Anastasiades at a mean of Forty p.c, internal a differ of 38 and forty two p.c.

He’s trailed by Stavros Malas, an independent candidate backed by the communist birthday celebration AKEL, who is expected to loyal between 27 p.c and 31 p.c of the vote, in accordance with the projection.

Centrist Nicolas Papadopoulos, chief of the Democratic Occasion, is 1/three, projected to salvage between 21.5 p.c and 24.5 p.c share of the vote.

A separate exit poll by Sigma TV save improve for Anastasiades at a mean of 34 p.c; Malas at 28 p.c; and Papadopoulos at 26.5 p.c.

ELAM, a a lot-appropriate model birthday celebration, will function fourth, the exit polls showed.

The runoff will be held on February 4, where the tip two contenders will glance a save five-yr time frame.

The exit polls were released straight away after balloting ended at 6pm (sixteen:00 GMT). Final results are expected by eight:30pm (18:30 GMT).

A excessive level of abstention is expected, exceeding the nearly 17 p.c recorded in the first spherical of the final presidential vote in 2013.

High components

In all, 9 male candidates were standing in the presidential speed.

The election advertising and marketing campaign has been dominated by the prolonged-running Cyprus subject following the crumple of the most modern spherical of peace talks in July 2017.

Cyprus, a dinky Mediterranean island, has been divided along ethnic traces since 1974 when Turkish troops seized its northern 1/three in accordance with an Athens-inspired Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting it with Greece.

The inform of the economy has also topped voters’ considerations. In 2013, Cyprus clinched a deal to loyal an emergency world rescue kit to shore up its ill banking sector and avert monetary meltdown.

It efficiently concluded its multi-billion-dollar bailout programme three years later.