Anastasiades remains Cyprus's head of state
Nicos Anastasiades has been re-elected as president in Cyprus. The conservative leader secured around 56 percent and defeated his left-leaning independent challenger Stavros Malas. Commentators expect Anastasiades to focus his efforts on resolving the Cyprus problem now.
Decision time for Anastasiades
Cyprus Mail describes the challenges Anastasiades faces in his second term:
“Nobody talked about the Cyprus problem during the election campaign, but now he has a new mandate there will be pressure on him to finally decide whether he will agree to reunification or partition. The status quo will not be an option, especially with the UN Security Council scheduled to discuss the future of the peacekeeping operation in Cyprus in the summer. Perhaps Anastasiades will be able to take the tough decisions that await him, as he will not be seeking re-election, because his second term could be more difficult than the first.”
High time to work on a two state solution
The election result will be irrelevant if both sides in the Cyprus conflict aren't willing to consider new options, Hürriyet Daily News argues:
“As long as Greek Cypriots insist on 'zero guarantees, zero soldiers' and Turkish Cypriots - even if the leadership says 'Yes' to such demands - remain pondering Turkey's continued guarantee and military presence on Cyprus as the sine qua non of any deal, can there be a federal settlement? After over 50 years of failed federation talks on Cyprus, time ought to come to consider two states in the EU option, of course, with clauses prohibiting the union of the two states with other countries. Otherwise, will it matter what the name of the Greek Cypriot leader who will be elected on Sunday be?”
The people must take fate into their hands
The country's future does not depend on the outcome of the runoff vote but on whether the Greek Cypriots can find joint solutions, Simerini stresses:
“This people will have a new president one way or another. But there is no fresh hope. And no new course. And no new life. Will the citizens manage to persuade their politicians to get together and talk for as long as it takes to find solutions to the questions of survival for Cypriot Hellenism? Can the political leadership of this country see the tragic past of this people and jointly open up new paths for survival? This does not depend on others. It depends on the maturity and patriotism of the Greek Cypriots.”
Politicians don't feel slap in the face
The country must work together to overcome the people's frustration with politics and the resulting low voter turnout, Philileftheros urges:
“In a country that has overcome the austerity memorandum but not but the crisis and where the Cyprus question is an open wound, 154,927 of 550,876 registered voters stayed away from the polls. This is a hard blow to the politicians, but they don't feel it. Because apart from making a few passing remarks they have done nothing to address the problems that are making people despise the politicians and their staff. Nothing is done to encourage the people to make use of their right to vote. ... The trend towards not voting seems to be firmly established.”