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Chief Returning Officer: 14 presidential candidates

05/01/2023 15:10

The official nomination procedure for presidential candidates went smoothly and without any problems, said Chief Returning Officer Costas Constantinou after the completion of the process, which took place on Thursday at the Filoxenia Conference Centre in Nicosia.

He added that the 14 nominations have been approved by the Chief Returning Officer with his signature.

The candidates are: Andreas Efstratiou, Lukas Stavrou, Celestina De Petro, Christos Christou, Andronikos Zervides, Achilleas Demetriades, Alexios Savvides, Andreas Mavroyiannis, Georgios Kolokasidis, Averof Neophytou, Charalambos Aristotelous, Constantinos Christofides, Julia Khovrina Komnenos, Nikos Christodoulides.

Constantinou explained that, in accordance with the provisions of relevant law, a deadline of 6:00 p.m. is given for filing objections against any nomination on any of the grounds listed in Article 13(1) of the law.

Objections, he noted, may be lodged at the office of the Chief Returning Officer, Ministry of Interior. In the event that objections are filed, they will be considered and decided upon expeditiously and finally by the Chief Returning Officer, so that the nominations can then be finalized, he stressed.

He added that he is already in consultation with the Government Printing Office to prepare a draft ballot paper, which will be presented to the representatives of the candidates next Monday for any comments, and once it is finalised, the Government Printing Office will be instructed to start printing the ballot papers.

Responding to a question on the order of the names of the candidates on the ballot paper, the Chief Returning Officer explained that "by law, party candidates are ranked first in alphabetical order of parties, followed by independent candidates, again in alphabetical order."

Further, when asked about Julia Hovrina Komninos, he clarified that she has submitted her candidature as a party representative.

Finally, referring to the number of candidates, he noted that the previous highest number of candidates was in 2013 with 11 candidates. "Therefore, today we have broken the record of 11 as we have 14 candidates," he concluded.