By Antonis Anzoletou

Nikos Christodoulidis is the first President of the Republic of Cyprus to be elected without the support of one of the two major parties, DISY and AKEL. It is a new era for Cyprus and party mechanisms that may change the way voters are approached from now on. The former foreign minister was considered a “rebel” by the Democratic Alert. Despite this, data from the Cypriot media indicate that 75% of the voters who voted for Averof Neophytou on February 5th won. The support of his candidacy by Nikos Anastasiadis, mainly behind the scenes, also contributed to this. After all, he was his close associate for almost ten years. Nikos Christodoulidis secured 51.97% of the votes against 48.03% of Andreas Mavroyiannis. In absolute numbers, their difference was only 15,532 votes.

The other message from the ballot box concerns the parties of the so-called “in-between space”. DIKO, EDEK and DIPA who supported Nikos Christodoulidis, now become the third pole in the political life of Cyprus. An important “reservoir” for the new president was also ELAM, which seems to have favored him with a percentage close to 4%, i.e. around 18,000 votes. It is recalled that after the first round, Andreas Mavroyiannis had severed all ties with the far-right National People’s Front.

As far as AKEL is concerned, it may have lost the presidential elections for the third time in a row, but the party presents a dynamic that it will be called upon to manage and exploit from now on. His gathering was very good and now they are preparing for their Congress by discussing organizational changes. The big loser of the double elections is undoubtedly the DISY with the “Alarmist” officials in a state of turmoil. The next bet for all the parties is the parliamentary elections, with the self-governing and European elections preceding them.

The government that Nikos Christodoulidis will form is the big bet for the new president. Until February 28, the existing cabinet will be in place. On March 1st, the first session of the body will take place. He is expected to consult with the parties in order to form a government of “broad social acceptance”, as he has pledged. Apart from the plan that wants 50% of the new government to be women, nothing has been announced yet. Not even if there is a chance for the Democratic Alarm to review its decision to stay in the opposition. In his statement on the final result, Averof Neofytou adopted a milder stance, saying that “the new president can rely on DISY”, without being in the government. It is certain that the forces that supported Nikos Christodoulidis, namely DIKO, EDEK and DIPA from the intermediate space, will participate in the ministerial structure.

In the Cyprus issue, during his tenure at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Christodoulidis had prioritized the policy of sanctions against Turkey during the period when there were Ankara’s provocations in the Cypriot EEZ. He had even received criticism that he had raised expectations too high without any result. After Crans Montana and the wreckage in the Cyprus talks, he is said to have suggested to Nicos Anastasiades to take a tougher stance. His priority is the more active role of the European Union in this particular issue. In the field of immigration, the main commitment that he will be asked to implement is the creation of the Ministry of Immigration Policy. In the new portfolio, all services will be co-located so that applications for political asylum can be examined more quickly.