Voters hope president will unify divided isle

NICOSIA: Cypriots were voting yesterday for a president whom they hope will overcome years of failure and finally resolve the ethnic divisions that have torn the Mediterranean island nation into a Greek-speaking south and a breakaway, Turkishspeaking north.

Voters in internationally recognised southern Cyprus were also seeking more benefits from an economy on the rebound after a severe financial crisis.

Opinion polls show incumbent President Nicos Anastasiades leading his two main rivals, but he may not get the 50% support needed to avoid a Sunday runoff.

Concerns have arisen over widespread voter apathy, especially among young people unhappy with a political system they see as tainted by corruption and ineptitude.

“I urge all citizens to come out and vote,” Mr Anastasiades said after casting his ballot. “No one is justified to complain about the election’s results afterward [if they don’t vote].”

Challengers include Stavros Malas, backed by the communist Akel party, and Nicholas Papadopoulos, leader of the centre-right Diko party and the son of late former president Tassos Papadopoulos.

“Democracy is strengthened with voters’ participation,” Mr Papadopoulos said.

Mr Malas urged citizens not to let others choose a president for them.

Mr Anastasiades, 71, says this will be his last five-year term if re-elected. He has campaigned on his experience, which he says brought reunification talks with breakaway Turkish Cypriots farther along than at any time in more than four decades of fruitless negotiations and brought the economy back from near bankruptcy.

But both Mr Malas, 50, and Mr Papadopoulos, 44, have attacked Mr Anastasiades for the failure of the peace talks in July, with Mr Malas saying the president was not bold enough to clinch a deal, and Mr Papadopoulos saying the president made too many concessions at the talks.

They also accuse him of not doing enough to support a shrinking middle class hit hard after 2013 when Cyprus needed a multibillion-euro rescue package from its Eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Only Turkey recognises Turkish Cypriot independence.