Sharjah24 - AFP: After no candidate received a majority of the vote on Sunday, former foreign minister of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides will compete against career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis in the second round of voting for president the following week.
The winner needs 50 percent plus one to succeed two-term President Nicos Anastasiades.
Pre-poll favourite Christodoulides is leading a close-fought contest with 32.04 percent of the vote, followed by Mavroyiannis with 29.58 percent.
"Today, Cyprus spoke. It spoke clearly," Christodoulides said late Sunday. "I'm ready to take on this great responsibility."
"I remain true to my position for a government of broad acceptance. We don't rule anyone out," he said.
Averof Neofytou's future as leader of the governing conservative party DISY looks shaky after he trailed in third place with 26.11 percent of the vote.
Despite being endorsed by the incumbent, the seasoned politician is the first DISY candidate not to progress from the first round in the party's history.
The interior ministry said Sunday's turnout was 72.03 percent, from an eligible electorate of more than 561,000, including 10,346 Cypriots abroad.
Analysts said Mavroyiannis, a 66-year-old technocrat backed by the communist party AKEL, had surprised observers on Sunday by squeezing out Neofytou, 61, and closing the gap with the 49-year-old centrist-backed Christodoulides.
Cypriots turned out in large numbers for an election in which the focus was on corruption and the economy amid deadlock over the island's long-standing division.
Even before polling stations opened, Christodoulides was seen as the favourite.
"If he goes to the second round, he is predicted to win," said Andreas Theophanous of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs.
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