Cyprus Foreign Minister quits in presidential battle

Cyprus’s Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides announced on Sunday that he has resigned from his post and indicated that he would probably be a candidate in presidential elections due in February 2023.

Christodoulides said he submitted his resignation to President Nicos Anastasiades some days ago and it was accepted on Friday. The resignation will take effect on Tuesday.

“He is a politician with a long diplomatic career, was appointed as Foreign Minister in March 2018.”

His resignation was announced amid friction with the president of his own ruling Democratic Rally party, Averof Neofytou, who has also said that he will be seeking the party’s nomination for the presidential elections.

Neofytou said, he would step down as party leader and Christodoulides would become both party leader and a presidential candidate if he contested the party candidacy and won the vote.

Christodoulides turned down the challenge, saying that he was not interested in leading the Democratic Rally party.

He also said, he would make an announcement about his candidacy when he made a final decision.

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Kamila/Xinhua