Presidential elections were held in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

on 5 February 2023. No candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, so a runoff was held on 12 February. Incumbent president

Nicos Anastasiades Nicos Anastasiades ( ; born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician and businessperson, who served as the seventh president of Cyprus from 2013 to 2023. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally between 1997 and 2013 and served as Me ...

of the

Democratic Rally The Democratic Rally (, ΔΗΣΥ, DISY) is a Christian democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Cyprus led by Annita Demetriou. The party was founded on 4 July 1976 by veteran politician Glafcos Clerides. Two leaders of the par ...

(DISY), who won the presidential elections in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, was ineligible to run due to the two-term limit mandated by the

Constitution of Cyprus The Constitution of Cyprus is a document, ratified on August 16, 1960, that serves as the Supreme Law of the Republic of Cyprus (Suprema Lex Cypri) defining the system of government of the Cypriot Republic and the civil liberties for the Cypriot ...

. In the first round,

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate

Nikos Christodoulides Nikos Christodoulides (; born 6 December 1973) is a Cypriot politician, diplomat, and academic who has served as the 8th President of Cyprus since 2023. He previously served as Government Spokesman from 2014 to 2018 and List of Ministers of Fore ...

, supported by the Democratic Party (DIKO),

Movement for Social Democracy The EDEK Socialist Party (, EDEK) is a Greek Cypriot nationalist, social-democratic political party in Cyprus. Overview The party was founded by Vassos Lyssarides in 1969 as the United Democratic Centre Union, EDEK (, ΕΔΕΚ). It was origin ...

(EDEK), Democratic Alignment (DIPA) and

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

, received 32.04% of the vote, coming first.

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis, supported by the left-wing

Progressive Party of Working People The Progressive Party of Working People (, , ΑΚΕΛ or AKEL; ) is a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith, Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover''The Guardian 2008 communist party in Cyprus. AKEL is one of the two major part ...

(AKEL), came second with 29.59% of the vote.

Averof Neofytou Averof Neofytou (; born 31 July 1961) is a Cypriot politician, who was the President of the then-ruling Democratic Rally The Democratic Rally (, ΔΗΣΥ, DISY) is a Christian democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Cypru ...

, the president of the centre-right

(DISY), received 26.11% of the votes, finishing third in the first round. Christodoulides and Mavroyiannis advanced to the second round. The incumbent president Anastasiades then endorsed Christodoulides, while DISY declined to endorse either of the remaining candidates. Christodoulides won the second round with 51.97% of the vote to Mavroyiannis' 48.03%. The margin of victory of less than 4% made this the closest presidential election in Cyprus since 1998.

Electoral system

The

President of Cyprus The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Cypriot National Guard. The office was established by the Constitu ...

is elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

; if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is held between the top two candidates.

Candidates

Supported by parliamentary parties

Other candidates

* Achilleas Dimitriades: Lawyer, plaintiff of the landmark case '' Loizidou v. Turkey'', running as an independent candidate endorsed by the "Famagusta for Cyprus" party * Alexios Savvides: Mathematician, independent candidate * Andronicos Zervides: Founder and CEO of GPG Cyprus, independent candidate * Celestina de Petro: Former member of

ELAM Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...

running as an independent candidate * Charalampos Aristotelous: member of EDON, the youth wing of AKEL but running as an independent candidate * : Ex Rector of the

University of Cyprus The University of Cyprus (Greek language, Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου, Turkish language, Turkish: Kıbrıs Üniversitesi) is a public university, public research institute, research university established in Cyprus in 1989. It ...

, member of the steering committee of New Wave, supported by New Wave * George Colocassides: Former Deputy Chairman of

DIKO The Democratic Party (, ''Dimokratikó Kómma'' (DIKO)) is a Greek-Cypriot nationalist, centrist political party in Cyprus founded in 1976 by Spyros Kyprianou. DIKO is variously described as centrist, centre-left or centre-right; international ...

now running as an independent candidate, lawyer * Andreas Efstratiou: Bridal shop owner and candidate for president in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

, independent candidate * Ioulia Khovrina Komninou: President of the United Republican Party of Cyprus, supported by the United Republican Party of Cyprus * Loukas Stavrou: President of the " National Communitarian Reconstruction" party, supported by the "National Communitarian Reconstruction" party

Withdrawn

* Christodoulos Protopapas: CEO of

Hellas Sat Hellas Sat Consortium Ltd (Hellas Sat) is the owner and a wholesaler of capacity and services of the Greek/Cypriot Hellas Sat 2 satellite, an Astrium Eurostar E2000+, which was launched successfully on 13 May 2003 to the 39th eastern meridian or ...

, independent candidate * Constantinos Panayi: Former member of

, former member of the Pancyprian Organization for the Rehabilitation of Disabled People, independent candidate * Marios Eliades: Former Minister of Communications and Works (1978–1980), lawyer, independent candidate * Andreas Nikolaou: Professor of physical medicine, independent candidate * Louis Koutroukides: Activist of human rights for domestic workers in Cyprus, independent candidate

Campaign

Averof Neofytou

announced his candidacy on 22 December 2021, 14 months prior to the presidential elections. As the president of DISY, he was officially backed by the centre-right party. He was widely viewed as the successor of the outgoing president

, since he is the president of the ruling party and has had an active role in the government since 2013. Neofytou suggested many new policies and reformations, such as the application for

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

membership of Cyprus, a constitutional revision to increase transparency and decrease corruption, a radical reformation of the

educational system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

, including the implementation of compulsory all-day schooling, focused mainly on culturing skills rather than covering material. He also promised to decrease

government debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occu ...

to 30% of GDP by 2028, a 1:1 ratio of women and men in the committee of ministers, converting Cyprus into a regional centre of technology, education and health, the equipment of all houses with

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s to produce 125% of their energy demand, selling the excess electricity to make profit, increasing the

defence budget A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes. Financing militari ...

to 2% of GDP and making Cyprus the "tech island of East Mediterranean". Neofytou announced

tax reform Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxati ...

, that he described as "the most important and radical social reform that has ever taken place in the country". The idea was that the taxation of each family needed to be calculated considering the number of children and the total family income, rather than individual incomes. According to the candidate, this would immediately benefit 126,000 families to cover their everyday needs. In some extreme cases, families could see a decrease in annual taxation of up to €30,000. The plan was heavily criticised by the other candidates and was characterised as extemporaneous. Andreas Mavroyiannis publicly said that Averof was "transformed into

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

" and that his plan mainly benefited the rich. Neofytou strongly denied the accusations, by insisting that unlike Truss, his tax reform would benefit the ones in need, not the millionaires. Nicos Christodoulides and Andreas Mavrohiannis disagree with Averof Neofytou on the application for NATO membership, because they both believe that Turkey will veto the application of Cyprus. Neofytou acknowledged this, but he presented the initiative as a strategic move to send a clear message to the international community that Cyprus belongs to the west, but also to improve the relationships of Cyprus with the USA. Averof Neofytou was supported by the president of Cyprus

and the President of the House of Representatives

Annita Demetriou Annita Demetriou (Greek: Αννίτα Δημητρίου; born 18 October 1985) is a Cypriot politician, who serves as President of the Cypriot House of Representatives since June 2021, and as the President of the Democratic Rally (DISY) since ...

Andreas Mavroyiannis

Andreas Mavoryiannis was appointed negotiator for the

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 737,196 Cypri ...

side in the talks on the

Cyprus problem The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of th ...

, by the

president of Cyprus The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Cypriot National Guard. The office was established by the Constitu ...

, on 1 September 2013. Mavroyiannis announced his resignation on 15 April 2022, due to the absence of progress in negotiations for the Cypriot problem. Despite being a close collaborator of the outgoing president as the official negotiator of Greek Cypriots, he became an

independent candidate An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

for the presidential elections, promising a progressive change of the governance of Cyprus. Mavroyiannis was supported by the main opposition party, the communist party

AKEL The Progressive Party of Working People (, , ΑΚΕΛ or AKEL; ) is a Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith, Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover''The Guardian 2008 communist party in Cyprus. AKEL is one of the two major parties in Cyprus, and ...

. AKEL decided not to run in the elections with a party candidate, but to support an independent politician. An internal election was carried out between Mavroyiannis and the lawyer Achilleas Demetriades, the president of the Human Rights Committee of the Cyprus Bar Association. Mavroyiannis won the election with 52 votes (53%). Demetriades gained 37 votes (38%) and 9 people preferred not to vote for either candidate (9%). He was also supported by the centre-left party Generation Change. The

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

of the candidate focused on the change in governance, for a green and fair state, with equal opportunities for everyone. His program included the abolition of double taxation on fuel, decreasing

VAT A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

of electricity from 19% to 9%, implementing compulsory all day schooling, equipment of all houses with solar panels on the basis of a graduated subsidy, which will reach up to 100%, increasing taxation on excess profit of energy companies and 100% return of ATA, based on the variation in inflation and its extension for all workers, with no exceptions. He also criticised the minimum wage of €940 per month, that was implemented by Nicos Anastasiades, promising to increase it and include everyone, by abolishing all the exceptions, like the exception for house maids. He also criticised the 12% penalty imposed to anyone that decides to retire at the age of 63, instead of 65. He promised to abolish the penalty, allowing everyone to choose to retire earlier, with no punishment.

denied the independency of Mavroyiannis, insisting that he is "totally dependent by

", the main

opposition party In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...

that Neofytou and DISY blame for the

2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis The 2012–2013 Cypriot financial crisis was an economic crisis in the Republic of Cyprus that involved the exposure of Cypriot banks to overleveraged local property companies, the Greek government-debt crisis, the downgrading of the Government ...

. Mavroyannis denied these claims and insisted that he is an independent candidate, proud to be supported by a significant progressive political force.

Nikos Christodoulides

is an academic and career diplomat, who served as Spokesman of the Government from 2014 to 2018 and

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 2018 to 2022. Despite being a member of DISY and one of the closest collaborators of the outgoing president

, he entered the presidential elections as an

, without the support of his party. Christodoulides used to be the absolute favourite to win the elections, with around 50% of the public willing to vote for him in May 2022 and an astonishing 30-point lead from any other candidate in the first round. Although his popularity decreased significantly with time, in the last polls he maintained a healthy 6-point-lead. The independent candidate was supported by the centrist parties

and DIPA, the centre-left EDEK and the right-wing

Solidarity Movement Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

. Through his campaign he was reluctant to criticise the 10-year government of Nicos Anastasiades and was repeatedly saying that his plan was to maintain the successful policies and abolish or improve the ones that did not have the desired outcome. He described himself as a supporter of

social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

. His goal is to achieve a

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

, with ministers from all the political parties and without political opposition. Averof Neofytou was clear that DISY would not take part in any form of government with Christodoulides, since, if they were to lose the elections, the only responsible action would be to respect people's will and enter a responsible

political opposition In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...

. He also used to deny the independency of Christodoulides and constantly criticising him for being dependent by parties with completely opposing

ideologies An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

on vital issues such as the economy and the

. Christodoulides did not accept the accusations, saying that his candidacy is completely independent. He proved his independency by insisting that he had not offered or promised anything to any political party to win their support. This was confirmed by the president of

Nikolas Papadopoulos Nikolas Papadopoulos (; born 22 April 1973) is a Greek Cypriot lawyer and politician. He has been Member of Parliament for Nicosia since 2006 and leader of centrist DIKO party since 2013. Papadopoulos chairs the parliamentary committee on Finan ...

. Christodoulides's goals include connecting the

with the economy, creating deputy ministries of immigration and of sports, giving financial help to vulnerable groups through modifications of ATA and the instalment of financial literacy programs. He also envisioned perfecting the

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

and

green economy A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without environmental degradation, degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological econ ...

, achieving a

and a

pension reform Welfare reforms are changes in the operation of a given welfare system aimed at improving the efficiency, equity, and administration of government assistance programs. Reform programs may have a various aims; sometimes the focus is on reducing th ...

, upgrading the network of EAC to increase the use of renewable energy sources and electrical interconnection of Cyprus with Greece, Israel and Egypt. Moreover, he suggested that the government should cover 100% of costs to install

s for vulnerable families, and 50% to non-vulnerable ones. He also used to emphasise his plan to strengthen the relationship Cyprus with the EU, since according to the candidate, the EU is the only one who can help Cyprus to solve the

Second round endorsements

Following the results of the first round, Achilleas Demetriades and Constantinos Christofides openly announced their endorsement of Andreas Mavroyiannis. Christos Christou and George Colocassides refused to endorse either candidate. Meanwhile, the Democratic Rally (DISY), led by Averof Neofytou, publicly announced that they would not endorse any candidate. However, Neofytou expressed his opposition to Christodoulides, indirectly endorsing Mavroyiannis as his preferred candidate. On the other hand, the outgoing president and former president of DISY, Nicos Anastasiades, indirectly endorsed Christodoulides by cautioning his party members against the possibility of an

-backed government.

Opinion polls

First roundSecond round

Results

Vote share by party support

Analysis

In the first round,

candidate

, supported by

, EDEK, DIPA and

, secured 32.04%, coming first.

candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis, supported by the left-wing party

, outperformed polls to gain 29.59% of the votes.

, the president of the centre-right

, secured 26.11% of the votes, finishing third in the first round. Christodoulides was thereafter backed by the incumbent president Anastasiades, while DISY declined to endorse any of the remaining candidates. Christodoulides won the second round with 51.92% of the votes, against Mavroyiannis who received 48.08% of the votes, to become president of Cyprus. Mavroyiannis conceded and sent a congratulatory message to Christodoulides.

Notes

References

{{Cypriot elections Presidential elections in Cyprus

2020s in Cypriot politics

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...