Ex-foreign minister heads to runoff for Cyprus presidency

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Associated Press

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — An exit poll by Cyprus’ state broadcaster shows that the country’s former foreign minister will, as expected, head into a runoff to context the presidency. Who his opponent will be remains too close to call. According to the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation exit poll Sunday, Nikos Christodoulides garners between 30.5% to 33.5% to lead the two other frontrunners who are virtually in a dead heat for second place. Averof Neophytou, 61, the leader of Democratic Rally, the country’s largest political party, and career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66, were jockeying for second. Both garnered 26.5% to 29.5% of the vote, according to the exit poll, which showed a 1.5% margin of error for all three candidates.