The municipality of Nicosia will be contested between Nicos Tornaritis, who has already begun his campaign, and Charalambos Prountzos, who has recently officially announced his candidacy.
Nicosia holds particular electoral interest, being both the capital and the only ongoing partitioned city on the island.
Both candidates have a centre-right profile, regardless of the party support they may receive. Parties were seeking a candidate with this profile, given the specific characteristics of the capital’s electorate.
Regarding their profiles, both candidates come from the broader Right. Nicos Tornaritis enjoys the support of DISY, DIKO, and DIPA.
Charalambos Prountzos has announced his candidacy as an independent but is expected to receive support from AKEL, the newly formed Volt Cyprus, and possibly the Greens.
EDEK has not made a decision yet. Prountzos has built connections with the Left, starting from the presidential elections, as the person proposed by Andreas Mavroyiannis. He would had served as the Minister of Finance in a Mavroyiannis’ government.
Despite this fragmentation in expected party support, both candidates could potentially draw votes from the same electoral pool.
Prountzos’ candidacy, as an independent not affiliated with AKEL, might attract votes from the centre-right.
Even though he is expected to be supported by the broader left, he needs to find a delicate balance in communication. He cannot afford to lose identification with AKEL voters and supporters of other parties backing him, as it is crucial to rally support around his candidacy.
At the same time, Prountzos aims to challenge party balances, which overwhelmingly favour Nicos Tornaritis, given AKEL’s limited electoral strength in the capital.
However, Prountzos must carefully manage the perception of his candidacy as an independent, free from party stigma, while simultaneously maintaining the identification of AKEL voters and those from other parties supporting him as their candidate.
Regardless, the active involvement of Prountzos as an independent citizen with no prior party affiliation is an essential aspect of his political image.
Simultaneously, DISY aims to highlight Prountzos as AKEL’s candidate to prevent or limit votes from the Right going to him.
“Everyone knows very well that Charalambos Prountzos is an AKEL candidate,” stated DISY’s Deputy President Efthimios Diplaros on “SPORT FM 95.0.”
Prountzos replied that he sees himself as an active citizen who has never been involved in political parties.
