In view of the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing President of the Republic on 28 February 2023, the Minister of Interior by Decree published today 23.12.2022 in the Official Gazette, has called the Presidential Elections for the election of the next President of the Republic of Cyprus for Sunday 5 February 2023 and, in case of a run-off election, for Sunday 12 February 2023.
The Minister of Interior, within the framework of his powers provided for by law, has appointed the above-mentioned Costas Constantinou, Director General of the Ministry of Interior, as General Electoral Commissioner for the Presidential Election and Mr. Menelaos Vassiliou as Assistant General Electoral Commissioner.
In addition, by Decree of the Minister, which has been published in the Official Gazette as of today's date, I have been instructed to accept nominations for January 5, 2023. Nominations will be submitted between 8 a.m. and 12 noon, at a time to be determined in consultation with the candidates.
Therefore, the official process for the election of the new President of the Republic is effectively activated today. As part of this process, the Ministry of Interior and the Office of the Procurator General are working to ensure that the elections are held in the best possible way.
As regards the submission of nominations, which will take place, as I said earlier, on 5 January 2023, all the relevant planning has been done so that the nominations can be submitted at the Philoxenia Conference Centre. As of today, interested parties can obtain nomination forms from the Office of the Registrar General, specifically the Electoral Service, Ministry of Interior. These forms can be completed and returned to the Registrar General for the relevant pre-clearance, so that on January 5, they can be officially filed, so that the nomination process can take place.
At the end of the nomination process, there should be a six (6) hour period for any objections to be submitted and then once this timeframe has elapsed, the list of candidates will be formalized. If there are more than one candidate, then the process for holding the election will begin. The Government Printing Office is activated and will immediately begin the process of printing the ballot papers. It is the intention of me and my colleagues that the electoral process will be conducted in the best possible manner and in full cooperation with the staffs of the candidates.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that registration on the electoral roll is continuing. The opportunity given, within the framework of the legislation, is until 27 December 2022, so we still have a few more days so that registrations can be made on the electoral roll for our fellow citizens who have such a right.
Therefore, I urge all citizens who have not registered and can register on the electoral roll to do so. Applicants up to the age of 25 can do so either through the online platform www.elections.gov.cy, which will be operational and accepting applications until 12 midnight on 27 December 2022, or by paper submission, here at the Central Electoral Office of the Ministry of Interior, and all local District Offices and Citizen Service Centres, until 5.00 p.m. on 27 December 2022.
Regarding the process of registration in the foreign electoral roll, I should mention that it is in progress. At the moment we have declarations corresponding to the possibility of holding elections in 19 cities abroad. That is to say, in these cities there have been more than 50 registrations, which is the minimum number of voters to set up a polling station. Elections abroad seem to be possible mainly in Greece, the United Kingdom and some other European countries. In particular, so far, it appears that it is possible to set up polling stations in Greece, namely in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion, Ioannina, Larissa, Komotini and Volos. In the United Kingdom, in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Bristol and Leeds. In Belgium, Brussels. In the Netherlands, The Hague. In Bulgaria, in Sofia. In Germany, in Berlin, and in the United States, in New York.
The process of registering to vote abroad continues, and I repeat, our fellow citizens who are temporarily residing abroad can register on this special list. This possibility is also given until 27 December, at 12 midnight, through the online platform aps.elections.moi.gov.cy . So far, a total of 6,033 applications to vote from abroad have been submitted.
It is worth mentioning that so far the electoral roll has 551,758 of our fellow citizens registered. This is the normal list before incorporating the provisional list which is currently in progress.
As of yesterday, new registrations on the electoral roll, as part of the process we are running, have totalled around 7,500. The interest is lower than the corresponding period in the 2018 Presidential Elections. We still have time and we hope that the number of our fellow citizens who will register during this period will also increase.
Finally, I would like to mention that on the day of the Presidential Elections, the Office of the Registrar General will be operating at the Ministry of Interior and at the same time there will be a press office at the Press and Information Office for continuous statements and updates.
(Ephys)
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