Last week prior to Cypriot elections begins. Debates are, obviously, in Greek, so we're largely reliant on the Sunday Mail for platform info. Christofias, the (nominally) Communist president is not running again, and would be roundly defeated if he did, as the country has been driven to bankruptcy and a request for a UK bailout under his watch. And negotiations on reunion with the turkish north are no further along than they were at the last election. Not that either of these situations were likely to have been better under another leader, the problems being deeply rooted in the culture. It's pretty obvious that the (centre right) Anastassiades will win the first round but there will be further rounds until one candidate has a majority. voting in Cyprus, like Australia, is mandatory, though penalties for failure to vote are not normally imposed. There must be arguments in favour of this, but there's also something to be said for electoral bias in favour of those with some minimal interest in and knowledge of the political landscape.
JAWORSKI TRAVELS