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Three major candidates are expected to compete in the race for the presidency in Cyprus on 17 February this year. Of the 11 nominations, Nicos Anastasiades from the centre-right Democratic Rally (DISY), Stavros Malas from the Communist Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) and the independent candidate George Lillikas are the main contenders for the presidency of the country.

After Greece, the financial crisis has hit the Cypriot economy too and the country is on the verge of signing a contract for financial assistance. The contract is expected to be signed after the elections in the middle of March as reported by the Cypriot newspaper Politis.

Commissioner for Financial Affairs of the European Union Olli Rehn stresses that the aim of the lenders is to ensure equitable distribution of the burden of the restructuring of the Cypriot banks in line with the European Union rules on financial assistance to member states. This inevitably means that a Memorandum of financial assistance will bind Cyprus like Greece with the international lenders. It will include measures for fiscal consolidation, deficit reduction and cuts in public spending, which the current government is strongly resisting at present.

The candidate of the centre-right Democratic Rally (DISY) Nicos Anastasiades is holding the lead with 15 points compared to the other two opponents as shown by the results of opinion polls conducted by Fileleftheros and Kathimerini-Kipros newspapers. He believes that the country will not be able to recover economically without the help of Europe and hopes to win in the first round. His pre-election slogan is "The crisis wants a leader". Although he argues that the country needs reforms, he firmly states that he would not sign a Memorandum of financial assistance that would hurt the deposits in Cypriot banks.

The representative of the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) Stavros Malas hastened to indirectly respond to his right-wing rival by choosing the slogan of "Yes! The crisis wants a RELIABLE leader". Malas bases his pre-election campaign on the argument that if centre-right forces come to power in Cyprus people will become poor en masse. AKEL supports a far left ideology that opposes privatization, improving competitiveness and reforming the public sector.

In response to both of his opponents, the third candidate has preferred the election slogan "No! The leader wants crisis". George Lillikas is a former member of the Communist AKEL. He also held ministerial posts in the foreign ministry and that of trade, industry and tourism. Now, he firmly opposes the Memorandum of financial assistance, which Cyprus needs. Lillikas believes that it would be a tragic mistake (as he puts it) to allow private financial auditors to make an independent assessment of the Cypriot banking system.

Imerisia reports that the voters in Cyprus number 540,000, which is an increase, compared to 2008 when a few more than 514,000 people had the right to vote. A candidate must receive more than 50% of the total number of votes to win the elections. If no candidate crosses the 50% threshold, a second round of elections will take place during which the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round will compete. If there is a second round of presidential elections, it must be held on 24 February and the main contenders in it are expected to be Anastasiades and Malas.

Some days before the end of his term, the current President of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias, was on a visit to Athens where he met with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and President of the Republic Carlos Papoulias. Christofias said he was leaving his post hurt by the position of the European Union to Cyprus and stated before the Greek president, "Greece may not be hit by an occupation today but it is under the pressure of a neo-colonial policy imposed by certain circles and the European Union".