AFP | Iakovos HATZISTAVROU
Exit polls indicated there would be a run-off on February 12, after no candidate secured an immediate outright majority.Former foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides, 49, is expected to go on to the second round, according to state broadcaster CyBC. "All polls indicate that Christodoulides is going to the second round," said Andreas Theophanous of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs ahead of the vote.Voters appeared concerned about a cash-for-passports scandal and the pressures of irregular migration on public resources, while the issue of the island's decades-old division remains at an impasse.
After voting in Paphos in the island's southwest, Christodoulides said:"Only through unity, through a collective effort, can we really meet the expectations of the Cypriot people." Teacher Maria Christodoulou, 45, told AFP:"Some things must change radically in my view, on the Cyprus problem and the economy."
Averof Neofytou, 61, leader of the governing conservatives DISY, is the other possible contender for the run-offAlthough Christodoulides had served in both Anastasiades administrations, he seems to have escaped the taint of corruption.