2008 Cypriot presidential election

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| <- 2003 | 17 February 2008 (first round)
24 February 2008 (second round) | 2013 ->

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Nominee  | Demetris Christofias | Ioannis Kasoulidis |
Party  | AKEL | DISY
Popular vote  | 240,604 | 210,195
Percentage  | 53.37% | 46.63%

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| President before election

Tassos Papadopoulos
DIKO

| Elected President

Demetris Christofias
AKEL

|

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Presidential elections were held in Cyprus on 17 February 2008, with a second round on 24 February.[1] The second-round winner, and thus the President of Cyprus for the next term, was Dimitris Christofias.[2][3]

The first round saw a close result between three leading candidates, Dimitris Christofias of AKEL, Ioannis Kasoulidis of Democratic Rally, and the incumbent Tassos Papadopoulos. Results showed Kasoulidis in first place with 33.51%, Christofias in second with 33.29%, and Papadopoulos in third with 31.79%. Christophias and Kasoulidis therefore participated in a second round on February 24. The elimination of Papadopoulos in the first round was viewed as surprising.[1]

In the second round, Christofias won with 53.37% against 46.63% for Kasoulides.[3] He was sworn in as President on February 28.[4]

According to the exit polls, Papadopoulos was voted for by 40% of "No" voters in the Annan referendum and 5% of the "Yes", Christofias by 35% of the "No" and 34% of the "Yes" voters and Kasoulidis by the 24% of the "No" and 62% of the "Yes" voters.[5]

## Candidates

[edit]

Papadopoulos (DIKO) announced in late July that he would run for re-election. In early July 2007, the ruling coalition (consisting of DIKO, AKEL and EDEK) fell apart due to a lack of consensus on a common candidate for the presidential elections; AKEL general secretary Dimitris Christofias was proposed as a common candidate by AKEL, but rejected by DIKO and EDEK (who both will support Papadopoulos' bid for reelection), which AKEL took as a reason to leave the ruling coalition. Thus, both Papadopoulos and Christophias contested the election.[6] The Ecological and Environmental Movement (KOP) decided on November 18, 2007 to support Papadopoulos.[7] The movement supported him in 2003 as well.

Furthermore, the Democratic Rally support MEP Ioannis Kasoulidis, a former foreign minister,[8] and Kostas Themistokleous, a former minister of agriculture and environment, also contested the election.

Controversial MEP Marios Matsakis announced on 29 December 2007 that he would contest the election. Marios Matsakis was elected two times as a member of the Cypriot parliament and once as member of the Εuropean Parliament with the support of DIKO.[9]

The Secretariat of the Movement of the United Democrats initially considered to support Themistokleous[10] but at the end they supported Christophias to minimize the possibility of Papadopoulos' re-election.[11]

Nine candidates were eventually approved to participate in the elections. Each candidate had to be recommended by one Cypriot citizen and supported by eight more.

The names of the candidates announced on 18 January 2008[12] were:

* Tassos Papadopoulos, supported by DIKO, EDEK,[13] Evroko,[14] ADIK,[15] KOP[7]
* Dimitris Christofias, supported by AKEL, United Democrats[16]
* Ioannis Kasoulidis, supported by DISY, Kinima Eleftheron Politon,[17] Evropaiki Dimokratia,[18] Laiko Sosialistiko Kinima
* Kostas Themistokleous
* Marios Matsakis
* Andreas Efstratiou
* Anastasis Michael
* Christodoulos Neophytou
* Kostas Kyriacou (Outopos)

## Campaign

[edit]

### Second round

[edit]

After the first round of the election and the elimination of Papadopoulos, the latter's party, DIKO, announced its support for Christofias[19] although Papadopoulos himself stayed neutral.[citation needed] Christofias had offered three ministerial positions to DIKO, including that of Minister of Foreign Affairs, in addition to the post of President of the House of Representatives, while Kasoulides had offered five ministerial positions in exchange for DIKO's support.[19] EDEK also backed Christofias, on the proposal of its Political Bureau, with 109 members of its Central Committee voting in favor of supporting Christofias, five voting against, and two abstaining.[20] The Cypriot Orthodox Church leader Archbishop Chrysostomos II backed Kasoulidis.[19]

Ecological and Environmental Movement on 21 February 2008 decided to support Dimitris Christofias.

Evroko, ADIK and Marios Matsakis announced that they will support neither of the two candidates.

Kostas Themistokleous backed Ioannis Kasoulidis.

## Debates

[edit]

On 26 January 2008 the three main candidates, Papadopoulos, Christofias, and Kasoulidis, debated on television. The debate was transmitted by all Cypriot TV stations.[21][22] The three candidates were questioned by journalists from RIK, MEGA, ANT1, Sigma TV and CNC Plus TV. The debate started at 9.45PM local time and lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. Each candidate had three minutes to answer each question and 1.5 minute for every follow-up question. The procedure was divided in 6 sections and, at the end of each section, each candidate had 3 minutes to give a short speech and 1.5 minute for a short comment.[23]

On 14 February, a second debate was held. The subject of discussion was the Cyprus dispute.[24]

## Opinion polls

[edit]

A collection of opinion polls taken before the elections is listed below. Beginning on 11 February 2008, no opinion poll is allowed to be published.[25]

Polling Firm  | Source  | Date Published  | T.
Papadopoulos  | D.
Christofias  | I.
Kasoulidis  | K.
Themistokleous  | M.
Matsakis

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Symmetron  | [26] | 3 October 2007  | 32.9% | 27.5%  | 27.6%  | 0.4%
RAI Consultants  | [27] | 28.5%  | 27.8%  | 0.4%
Public Isuue PIK  | [28] | 21 November 2007  | 31% | 30%  | 29%  | 1%
Noverna  | [29] | 22 November 2007  | 30.1% | 28.4%  | 27.1%  | 1.2%
RAI Consultants  | [30] | 25 December 2007  | 32.7% | 28.7%  | 26.2%  | 1.2%
Noverna  | [31] | 17 January 2008  | 30.3%  | 29.1%  | 30.5% | 0.1%  | 2.2%
Noverna  | [32] | 23 January 2008  | 30.5% | 30.0%  | 30.1%  | 0.3%  | 2.2%
Public Issue-RIK  | [33] | 7 February 2008  | 34.0% | 33.5%  | 30.5%  | 0.1%  | 2.0%

## Results

[edit]

Candidate| Party| First round| Second round

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Votes| %| Votes| %
| Ioannis Kasoulidis| Democratic Rally| 150,996| 33.51| 210,195| 46.63
| Dimitris Christofias| Progressive Party of Working People| 150,016| 33.29| 240,604| 53.37
| Tassos Papadopoulos| Democratic Party| 143,249| 31.79|
| Marios Matsakis| Independent| 3,460| 0.77|
| Kostas Kyriacou| Independent| 1,092| 0.24|
| Kostas Themistocleous| Independent| 753| 0.17|
| Andreas Efstratiou| Independent| 713| 0.16|
| Christodoulos Neophytou| Independent| 243| 0.05|
| Anastasis Michael| Independent| 117| 0.03|
Total| 450,639| 100.00| 450,799| 100.00
Valid votes| 450,639| 97.36| 450,799| 96.09
Invalid/blank votes| 12,208| 2.64| 18,344| 3.91
Total votes| 462,847| 100.00| 469,143| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 516,441| 89.62| 516,448| 90.84
Source: MOI, MOI

### Geographical distribution

[edit]

* Kasoulidis' distribution (1st round) (in Greek)

* Christofias' distribution (1st round) (in Greek)

* Papadopoulos' distribution (1st round) (in Greek)

* Kasoulidis' distribution (2nd round) (in Greek)

* Christofias' distribution (2nd round) (in Greek)

* Final distribution (2nd round) (in Greek)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Incumbent eliminated from Cyprus presidential election in major surprise" Archived 2008-12-15 at the Wayback Machine, Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), 17 February 2008.
2. ^ "Leftist leader wins Cyprus vote". BBC. 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
3. ^ a b "Presidential Election 2008: Run-off Election: Official results". Cypriot government. 2008-02-24. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
4. ^ "New Cyprus president takes office with pledge for solution", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), February 28, 2008.
5. ^ "Τα πάνω-κάτω με θριαμβευτή Κασουλίδη". Eleftherotypia. 2008-02-18. Archived from the original on 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
6. ^ "Cyprus coalition government dissolved". People's Daily Online. 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
7. ^ a b "The ecologists decided to support the Tassos Papadopulos' candidateship". Phileleftheros. 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
8. ^ 4 ministers quit after Cyprus' ruling coalition splits - International Herald Tribune
9. ^ "Fiery MEP to stand in Cyprus poll". ekathimerini.com. 2007-12-29. Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
10. ^ "The United Democrats with Themistocleous". Simerini. 2007-10-12. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
11. ^ "The United Democrats votes sensibly". Politis Online. 2007-10-15. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
12. ^ "Μάχη εντυπώσεων στην υποβολή υποψηφιοτήτων". Simerini. 2008-01-19. Retrieved 2009-01-19.[permanent dead link]
13. ^ "EDEK's bet". Politis Online. 2007-09-24. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
14. ^ "The European Party supports Tassos Papadopoulos". Press release of European Party. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
15. ^ "ADIK supports Tassos Papadopoulos as well". Radio Pafos 93.7 FM. 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
16. ^ "The United Democrats "vote" Christophias". Simireni. 2007-10-15. Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
17. ^ "Ο Κασουλίδης προσφέρει διεξόδους απεγκλωβισμού". Phileleftheros. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
18. ^ "H Ευρωπαϊκή Δημοκρατία σε ανακοίνωσή της αναφέρει ότι η υποψηφιότητα Kασουλίδη προχωρά με προτάσεις για τα προβλήματα της χώρας". Η Μάχη. 2007-10-23. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
19. ^ a b c "Communist chief gains edge in Cyprus poll" Archived January 16, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, AFP (news.com.au), February 21, 2008.
20. ^ "Cyprus Socialists supports Christofia’s candidacy"[permanent dead link], Financial Mirror, February 21, 2008.
21. ^ Katerina Zorba (2008-01-25). "Παράθυρο ευκαιρίας". Politis. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
22. ^ Marios Manousopoulos (2008-01-25). "Everyone declares himself as a winner". Simerini. Retrieved 2008-01-25.[permanent dead link]
23. ^ "Τρεις υποψήφιοι προέδροι στην πρώτη αναμέτρηση". iKypros.com. 2008-01-24. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
24. ^ "Ντιμπέιτ για τα λάθη και λίγα για το μέλλον". Politis. 2008-02-14. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
25. ^ "Σταυρόλεξο για δυνατούς λύτες η έκβαση των κυπριακών προεδρικών εκλογών". in.gr. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
26. ^ "News in.gr - Προβάδισμα Τ.Παπαδόπουλου και τρίτη θέση σε Δ.Χριστόφια δίνει νέα δημοσκόπηση". Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
27. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-18.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
28. ^ "Electionwatch Cyprus » 13η Παγκύπρια Έρευνα Πολιτικής Κουλτούρας και Εκλογικής Συμπεριφοράς". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
29. ^ "Greek Cyprus Presidential Race Wide Open: Angus Reid Global Monitor". Archived from the original on 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
30. ^ http://www.phileleftheros.com.cy/main/showarticle_prt.asp?id=527244[permanent dead link]
31. ^ "Three Candidates Tied in Greek Cyprus Race". Angus Reid Global Monitor : Polls & Research. Noverna / Politis. 2008-01-18. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
32. ^ "Winner in photo-finish". Politis. 2008-01-23. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
33. ^ "Presidential Elections 2008 Poll 19-29/01/2008". RIK. 2008-02-07. Archived from the original on 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2008-02-10.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Results, Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of the Interior
* Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus
* public Issue Observatory
* Cyprus Elections & Politics
* KyproEkloges.com Cyprus 2008 Presidential Election
* Cyprus 2008 Presidential Election Blog

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