Cyprus: Former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides to be country's next president

In Cyprus, former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides to be the country's next president. Mr. Christodoulides won the tight vote over seasoned diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis yesterday. According to the official results, Mr. Christodoulides' led with nearly 52 percent of the votes, meanwhile, Mr. Mavroyiannis scored 48 percent votes. Major issues of concern for voters have been the cost of living crisis, irregular immigration and the Cyprus dispute involving the Turkish-occupied north



of the island.

Mr. Christodoulides was expelled from the ruling DISY party after announcing his candidacy and ran as an independent. In the first round of voting last week, he was in the lead with 32.04 percent of the vote. He was appointed government spokesman in 2014 and foreign minister in 2018. Mr. Christodoulides has the support of the Democratic Party, the Movement for Social Democracy and the Democratic Alignment