The European Movement Ireland presents the facts of the Presidential elections that were held in Cyprus on 28 January and 4 February 2018.

Presidential elections took place in the Republic of Cyprus over the course of two rounds of voting, with the first round taking place on 28 January 2018. Nine candidates stood for election, including the incumbent President, Nicos Anastasiades. Voters went to the polls once again in the run-off on Sunday, 4 February, re-electing President Anastasiades for a second term in office.

Background
Since 1974, Cyprus has been partitioned, with Turkish Cypriots predominantly in the north and Greek Cypriots predominantly in the south. This has become known as the ‘Cyprus Problem’, with Northern Cyprus being recognised as a separate entity only by Turkey. Efforts to reunify the country have been unsuccessful to date, with the latest UN-mediated peace talks collapsing last July. The Constitution outlines that the position of President will always be filled by a Greek Cypriot, while the Vice-President position must be held by a Turkish Cypriot. The office of Vice-President has not been filled since the early 1960s when Turkish Cypriots withdrew from cross-community institutions such as the Presidency and Parliament.

Cyprus is a Presidential Republic, where the President is both the Head of State and the leader of the government. The President is elected every five years, using a two-round system. If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round, then the two candidates who received the highest share of the vote advance to a second round run-off.

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