Coalition wins municipal elections, numbers disappoint

— Eleni Mavrou is first female mayor of Nicosia

 

The ruling coalition comprising the communist party AKEL, the president’s Democratic Party (DIKO) and the socialist EDEK won most of the seats in Sunday’s municipal elections, but the numbers showed a deterioration of the coalition’s vote with the opposition Democratic Rally (DISY) recording a 6% gain.

AKEL MP Eleni Mavrou won the race in the capital becoming the first female mayor of Nicosia. She won 34.93% of the votes, just over two percentage points ahead of DISY-backed Anna Marangou.

Incumbent mayor Michael Zampelas garnered 27.3% and failed to get re-elected.

Analysts were quick to point that Eleni Mavrou’s support of the Annan Plan, rejected by the rest of the coalition members, resulted in DIKO and some EDEK votes going to Marangou or Zampelas.

The divide was similar in the crucial municipality of Limassol, where former Interior Minister Andreas Christou beat his only rival, DISY MP Eleni Theocharous by 55% to 45%, while former DIKO parliamentary leader and House speaker Alexis Ghalanos supported by DISY toppled the coalition candidate to become refugee mayor of Famagusta.

Eleni Mavrou, 45, studied engineering and politics and joined the AKEL party youth, EDON. She was elected a municipal councillor twice in Nicosia and won her seat in parliament in 1991. She is a member of the central committee of AKEL and chaired the House Environment Committee.

Mavrou’s parliamentary seat will most probably be taken up by former Health Minister Dina Akkelidou, who resigned after a scandal broke out when she allegedly attempted to intervene in the course of justice during the trial of a drug addict.