Cyprus election polls see candidates still too close

President Tassos Papadopoulos has a slim lead in opinion polls three weeks before elections but could still lose to his communist rival, according to surveys published in the Sunday press.

Polls in the dailies Simerini and Politis gave Papadopoulos 33.2% and 30.5% respectively, just ahead of communist AKEL leader and House president Demetris Christofias with 32.4% in the Simerini poll and 30.0% in the Politis survey.

Euro MP Ioannis Kassoulides was running a strong third on 30.1% in Simerini and 29.9% in Politis, making the election too close to call.

Presidential elections are scheduled on Sunday, February 17, where a winner with an outright majority is not expected and a runoff ballot will be staged between the two frontrunners on the following Sunday, February 24.

Simerini’s poll suggested Christofias would prevail over Papadopoulos by 42.8% to 40.8%. But the Politis poll made Papadopoulos the eventual winner with 40.1% of the vote compared to 38.4% for Christofias.

Nine candidates are running in the election to choose the nation’s chief executive as Cyprus has a presidential system of government.

The winner of the vote will be tasked with negotiating a way out of a deadlock in peace talks with Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.