A new Era in Cyprus: Nikos Christodoulides Elected as President after Historic Runoff Victory.

Nikos Christodoulides who is also the Former Cypriot Cyprus foreign minister has won the island’s presidential runoff, according to official results.

Christodoulides won 51.9 per cent of the vote against 48.1 per cent for his rival Andreas Mavroyiannis, a veteran diplomat. Christodoulides, 49, who served as a government spokesman and then foreign minister in the two administrations of outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades with all votes counted.

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Christodoulides ran as an independent and as president is expected to face significant opposition from both major parties, the ruling centre-right Democratic Rally and the communist Akel.

According to  Cleopatra Kitti, senior policy adviser of Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy, a think-tank, the election results imply that hardliners on the Cyprus issue outweigh [pro-reunification] ones.

Voter turnout was 72.4 percent with more than 405,000 citizens casting a ballot, a fraction higher than in the first round.

Top concerns for many voters are the cost of living crisis, irregular immigration, and the island’s almost half-century of division between the Greek-speaking south and a Turkish-occupied breakaway statelet in the north that is recognised only by Ankara.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces occupied its northern third in response to a Greek-sponsored coup, but voters appeared split over whether the division was a priority in the election.

The ruling DISY had been knocked out of the presidential race for the first time in its history, and the conservative party’s decision to back neither candidate threw the runoff wide open.

Pre-poll favourite Christodoulides last week squeezed out DISY leader Averof Neofytou, 61, who came third with 26.11 percent in the first round, despite the incumbent’s endorsement.

Mavroyiannis surprised observers by beating Neofytou and closing the gap with Christodoulides last week.

According to researchers, the new government will be under pressure to root out corruption and address higher energy bills labour disputes and the struggling economy.