NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) 鈥 The three front-runners vying for the presidency of ethnically split Cyprus wound down their campaigns Friday, putting pronouncements of their leadership credentials ahead of issues two days before the election.
Opinion polls indicate that none of the three, who are all close associates of outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades, will muster more than half of the vote 鈥 the bar for an outright win in Sunday's voting.
The top two finishers will likely face each other in a runoff election a week later. Some 561,000 citizens are eligible to vote.
Averof Neophytou, 61, who took over the leadership of the country鈥檚 Democratic Rally party from Anastasiades, doubled down on his "safe choice" campaign theme, portraying himself as a steady hand with a surfeit of experience who can get things done.
鈥淚鈥檝e also understood that those who profess to usher in change will only manage to usher in chaos,鈥 Neophytou told supporters during his final rally Thursday. 鈥淭his is no time for experiments or mistakes.鈥
Career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis, who served as Anastasiades' chief negotiator in peace talks with , sharpened his message for voters who may be disgruntled after a decade of the outgoing president鈥檚 leadership. The communist-rooted AKEL party is supporting Mavroyiannis' candidacy.
鈥淚n this election, there are three front-runners but two choices 鈥 the continuation of this government or progressive change,鈥 Mavroyiannis told his supporters. 鈥淐hange is in your hands.鈥
Nikos Christodoulides, 49, a former government spokesperson and foreign minister, is running as an independent. Throughout the monthslong campaign, he hammered home the message that he鈥檇 be the president for all Cypriots irrespective of ideology or party affiliation.
鈥淚 have the experience and the knowledge, I have the relationships and above all else, I have the vision to see my country free and reunified,鈥 he said at his final campaign rally.
Opinion polls have consistently put Christodoulides in the lead, with Mavroyiannis and Neophytou battling it out for the runoff spot.
Voters will expect the new president to quickly move to buttress an economy buffeted by Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine as high inflation .
Migration has also been a hot-button issue amid a continued influx of migrants that has made Cyprus one of the top European Union countries in terms of asylum applications per capita.
Capitalizing on Cyprus鈥 offshore natural gas deposits is another priority issue, as is getting back to the negotiating table with Turkish Cypriots to resolve the ethnic cleave that took place on the island in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
