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Cyprus vote too close to call: exit polls
2008-02-17
The Cyprus presidential election was too close to call after polling ended on Sunday, with two of the top three candidates headed for a runoff, exit polls showed. Communist party leader Demetris Christofias emerged with an edge over both the incumbent, President Tassos Papadopoulous, and former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulides, the state television poll said. Official results were expected by 1830 GMT. State television CyBC gave both Papadopoulos and Kasoulides between 31 and 34 percent of the vote, while Christofias, also parliamentary speaker, was marginally ahead with 32 to 35 percent. A second-round runoff is to take place next Sunday. About half a million Greek Cypriots and about 400 Turkish Cypriots were registered to vote in the election, seen as key to the future of efforts to reunite the island's rival communities. Another poll by the private television station Sigma poll gave a similar surprise result, with Papadopoulos trailing in third place with 31-33 percent. The contest is seen as a choice between Papadopoulos's hardline stance on efforts to reunite the island after 34 years of partition and pledges by his rivals to get peace talks back on track. "Cyprus is stronger today than ever before, the future is in our hands and I hope with the help of the people we can achieve the solution that we desire and deserve," Papadopoulos told reporters after voting in Nicosia, Europe's last divided capital. The Greek Cypriot press billed it as the most crucial election since independence in 1960. Chief returning officer Lazaros Savvides said turnout was about 90 percent. Voting is compulsory in Cyprus. "In the end it will come down to party alliances and horse trading" in the week ahead of the runoff, when the candidate with 50 percent plus one vote will be declared the winner. Cyprus has been split along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the east Mediterranean island with Greece. "We need to find a Cyprus settlement that is a compromise between the best and worst that we can hope for," voter Maria Christou, 53, told AFP. Warning that its patience was running thin, the United Nations has urged a resumption of peace talks that have been effectively stalled since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan in 2004. International mediators hold Papadopoulos, 74, responsible for the failure of the UN blueprint, which led to a divided island joining the EU in 2004, although the Turkish Cypriots voted overwhelmingly in favour. Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Talat's spokesman has charged that the presidential candidates planned policies aimed at hampering Turkey's EU bid to try to extract concessions on the Cyprus problem. Last month the International Crisis Group think-tank said the rival leaders should hold talks as soon as possible after the election, warning that "if such efforts fail, the alternative is likely to be partition." In campaigning, Papadopoulos said his "no" vote meant he was the man to trust, suggesting his rivals would "sell out" the republic. "We can expect more of the same from Papadopoulos. There will be no substantial progress on the Cyprus problem," said Hubert Faustmann, associate professor at the University of Nicosia. "But from Christofias and Kasoulides we can expect considerable developments and a far more constructive approach from the Greek Cypriots." Christofias has billed himself as the man to "build bridges" with the Turkish Cypriots, and Kasoulides too has said Cyprus needs to change tack by renewing contacts with the rival community and winning over EU member states.
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