(Nicosia) – Incumbent President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, has been re-elected President for a new five year term.
In the run-off election that took place on Sunday, Anastasiades, backed by the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) party, secured 215.281 votes or 55.99 per cent of the vote.
Stavros Malas, whom Anastasiades faced in the second round of the 2013 elections as well, backed by the left wing party AKEL, totalled 169.243 votes or 44.01 per cent, Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported.
The abstention rate was 26.03 per cent, while 2.65 per cent of the votes were invalid, and 2.99 per cent of the ballots were blank.
Valid ballots were 384,524 or 94.37 per cent.
Chief Returning Officer Kypros Kyprianou told the media that the elections ran smoothly and at 7.23 pm local time (5.23 pm GMT) they were ready to announce the final results, after polling ended at 6pm. CNA said.