The horse-trading was set to begin in earnest yesterday as member of European parliament Ioannis Kasoulides and communist chief Demetris Christofias vied to replace ousted Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos in runoff polls.
The narrow elimination of hardliner Papadopoulos in a first round on Sunday raised hopes of a revival of international efforts to end the island's three-decade division, as Greek Cypriots voted for a change of leader.
Christofias, who is parliament speaker and walked out of a government coalition led by Papadopoulos to run for president, tried to reach out to the president's supporters shortly after the final results.
PHOTO: AP
"President Papadopoulos served the interests of this country, now time is running out," he told supporters of his AKEL party.
But he added: "We will never accept a solution unless it's based on the principles we fought for all these years."
Both Kasoulides and Christofias are appealing to the socialist party EDEK, center-right DIKO and the Greens to join their ticket in the second round on Sunday, in which the winner has to clinch at least 50 percent plus one vote.
Christofias, 61, has already had a telephone conversation with Papadopoulos and other party leaders who backed the incumbent.
Rightist DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades, whose party supports former foreign minister Kasoulides running as an independent, appealed to the same alliance to back their man on Feb. 24.
Sunday's result proved a major upset for Papadopoulos: Opinion polls had put him as a favorite for re-election.
He campaigned on a hardline stance on the Cyprus problem that alienated Western countries.
After a cliffhanger contest, Papadopoulos came in third behind Kasoulides and then Christofias, who were separated by less than 1,000 votes.
The outgoing president trailed the frontrunners by only about 7,000 votes.
"All those who believe that Cyprus should become a modern European state, now is the time to join together," Kasoulides, 59, told hundreds of cheering supporters outside his campaign headquarters.
"Now is the time to overcome all that has divided the people on the Cyprus problem these past years," he said.
About half a million Greek Cypriots -- as well as, for the first time, about 400 Turkish Cypriots -- were registered to vote in the election, which the local press billed as the most important in Cyprus's history.
Turnout was about 90 percent, because voting is compulsory in Cyprus.
Papadopoulos's two main rivals have pledged to resume peace talks with the Turkish Cypriots after they were effectively stalled following a Greek Cypriot rejection of a UN peace plan in 2004 at the urging of Papadopoulos.
Cyprus has been split along ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkey invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
International mediators hold Papadopoulos, 74, responsible for the failure of the UN blueprint, which led to a divided island joining the EU in 2004, although the Turkish Cypriots had voted overwhelmingly in favor.
In campaigning, Papadopoulos had said his "no" vote meant he was the man to trust, suggesting his rivals would "sell out" the Cyprus Republic, the only internationally-recognized government on the island.
The Turkish Cypriots have a breakaway state in the north that is recognized only by Ankara.
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