Nikos Christodoulides, who previously led the Cyprus Foreign Ministry, captured the presidency in Cyprus by edging out Andreas Mavroyannis, the former chief negotiator for the Greek Cypriot side in a settlement talks, and Cyprus’ former permanent representative to the United Nations. Mavroyannis finished in the second round as the challenger for the post, with Cyprus news agencies noting the outcome.
Following the completion of nearly all ballots, Christodoulides held a narrow lead with 51.9 percent of the vote, while Mavroyannis garnered 48.1 percent. With those figures, the former foreign policy chief secured the presidency and his rival conceded defeat in a public address.
Earlier estimates had projected a second round with fourteen candidates from the first round, but the race narrowed to two contenders: former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides and former Cyprus Permanent Representative to the United Nations Andreas Mavroyannis.
Christodoulides ran as an independent candidate and drew support from centrist and pro-Hellenic political movements. Mavroyiannis, also running as an independent, benefited from backing by AKEL, the left-wing opposition party in Cyprus.
In the first round, Christodoulides led with 32.04 percent of the vote, while Mavroyannis followed with 29.59 percent, a margin that left a tight race for the second round and underscored the volatile nature of Cyprus politics at the time.