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Long and difficult is the electoral road that will lead to the presidential palace in 2023. The scene is almost fully formed and the candidates for the supreme office of the Republic are slowly being finalised, which so far have reached a total of nine: Averof Neophytou, Andreas Mavroyiannis, Nikos Christodoulides, Achilleas Demetriades, Christos Christou, Marios Iliades, George Kolokasidis, Christodoulos Protopapas, Konstantinos Christofides are the nine who have officially announced their candidacy.
In the party staffs and in the offices of the presidential candidates of the Republic, there is a series of polls, which more or less present the same picture. Experts who study public opinion polls agree that it is too early to draw conclusions but at the same time agree that multiple reversals will have to take place for the polls to change drastically. They all also argue that the trends that will consolidate in the autumn may also lead to changes in the electoral landscape.
Clear lead
The polls give a clear lead to former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, who announced his candidacy a month ago. He has a steady lead in the voting intention even without the support of any party. According to experts, the lead and the maintenance of the gap is attributed to his qualitative characteristics. Polls conducted after the announcement of his candidacy, which was marred by the Flesa blunder, did not register any noticeable damage. In fact, according to his staff, a poll carried out on his behalf not only shows stability but also records an increase. What concerns Nikos Christodoulides' staff is the so-called "loose vote", the polling phenomenon that sees many respondents declare that they will vote for someone but in the end turn their backs on the ballot box. This phenomenon is most pronounced among young people, among whom Christodoulides seems to prevail. Christodoulides' staff is working on this issue and expects to manage it effectively.
Victory performance
Satisfaction prevails in Pindarou by the poll rise recorded by the party's President and candidate for President of the Republic, Averof Neophytou, who maintains a clear lead in the victory performance, which has its importance, especially in the psychological field. In DISY they express the belief that through organizational and communication efforts the performance will follow a steady upward course, with the aim of achieving the greatest possible rallying and limiting the leakage to Nicos Christodoulides. They also estimate that with the unfolding of programmatic positions and the ruling party's cadre supremacy, the candidacy of Averof Neophytou will be distinguished for the adequacy of positions and persons, who will also assume the burden of implementing policies in an extremely difficult environment. This is the reason why Averof Neophytou invites his runners-up to open debates, investing in his personal experience and the fact that he has positions on all issues. Also, Averof Neophytou will appear as the authentic successor of the Anastasiades government in order to highlight political consistency and emphasize that he is the bearer of economic and social stability and security. DISY recognizes that this position requires careful handling because it involves high risk. This is because experience teaches that the electorate more easily punishes than rewards policies. The example of Tassos Papadopoulos in the 2008 presidential elections is particularly telling, as election experts point out.
In the political arena
In the deep end, Andreas Mavroyiannis, until recently the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side in the Cyprus problem, who after many years of service in the diplomatic corps, finds himself in the political ring and even in an election race, which requires experience, high stamina and conflict. The challenges he will face are many, with the main one being the inability to serve AKEL's narrative on President Anastasiades' responsibilities in the Cyprus problem.Andreas Mavroyiannis is called upon to adopt rhetoric that serves the effort to rally AKEL voters, without appearing to be the AKEL candidate, as his political opponents accuse him of being, but that he is truly independent. The polls conducted so far are seen as encouraging by him and AKEL, although they cannot be considered indicative, since he has not yet started to "run" in the election race. Andreas Mavroyiannis is looking forward to attracting voters from wider areas, beyond AKEL, something which the major party supporting him also hopes for.
Unknown so far are the losses that Mavroyiannis' momentum will suffer from the candidacy of Achilleas Demetriades, who was also AKEL's candidate for the nomination. An important factor in the equation is the performance of the other candidates. The large number of candidates will undoubtedly have an impact on the final result, because to a large extent they will dissect a significant portion of the electorate.
Therefore, immediately after the summer, the... runners for the presidency will find themselves on the final straight of the road leading to the presidency.
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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