Ex-Foreign Minister Seen Winning Final Cyprus President Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Nicos Christodoulides won the most votes in the second and final round of Cyprus presidential elections, an exit poll for state broadcaster RIK showed after voting ended.

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Christodoulides, is projected to get 50.5% to 53.5% of the vote compared to 46.5% to 49.5% for Andreas Mavroyiannis, according to the poll.

Christodoulides, 49, served as government spokesman and foreign minister in the first and second administrations of outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades, who was ineligible to stand again after completing two terms in office.

While a longtime member of Anastasiades’s center-right Disy party, Christodoulides was ejected from the group after deciding to stand as an independent against Averof Neofytou, Disy’s official candidate.

Mavroyiannis, 66, who also stood as an independent, was backed by the leftist Akel party. A career diplomat, he’s served as Cypriot ambassador to the United Nations, France and Ireland and was most recently the negotiator of the Greek-Cypriot community in talks for the reunification of Cyprus.

--With assistance from Sotiris Nikas.

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