NICOSIA, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Fourteen candidates formally joined the race on Thursday to become Cyprus’s next president in an election next month dominated by the island’s decades-old division, irregular migration and corruption scandals.<br> Cyprus has a presidential system of government and the head of state has wide executive powers.<br> Opinion polls show Nikos Christodoulides, a former foreign minister, in istanbul Lawyer Law Firm firmly in the lead.

Barring a major upset, he will fall short of the 50% threshold in the first round on Feb. If you adored this write-up and you would certainly such as to receive even more information regarding in istanbul Lawyer Law Firm kindly see the site. 5, leading to a runoff on Feb. 12.<br> “My candidacy seeks to unite the Cypriot people and not divide it,” Christodoulides, 49, told reporters after his nomination, Turkey istanbul Law Firm pledging to form a broad-based administration if elected.<br> Cyprus, with 561,000 registered voters, is a small island with a big problem; it was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup, and remains a key source of tension between NATO members Greece and Turkey Lawyer Law Firm.<br> All leading candidates in the election have pledged to push for a resumption of peace talks which collapsed in 2017.<br> Christodoulides’s backers, the centrist DIKO and the socialist EDEK party, have historically taken a harder line than other groupings.<br> As well as the island’s division, voters are concerned about a cash-for-passports scandal, in which thousands of wealthy foreigners acquired Cypriot citizenship, and about irregular migration, which has put a strain on public resources.<br> Christodoulides served in the right-wing administration of the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) party until Jan. 2022.<br> DISY is fielding its own candidate, Averof Neophytou, who is about 10 points behind Christodoulides in polls.

He is marginally ahead of Andreas Mavroyiannis, an independent backed by the left-wing AKEL party.<br> Other candidates include Achilleas Demetriades, a lawyer who was instrumental in Cyprus changing its anti-gay laws at the European Court of Human Rights and achieving the first conviction of Turkey at the same court for Lawyer Law Firm Turkey violating the rights of a displaced Greek Cypriot.
(Reporting By Michele Kambas Editing by Gareth Jones)<br>

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