Cyprus Mail
Cyprus

Candidates of archbishop elections filed on Tuesday

euro elections001

Candidates for the seat of the Church of Cyprus’ top position will have to submit their formal application in writing on Tuesday, the head of archbishopric elections committee said on Monday.

The general archbishopric elections commissioner Ioannis Charilaou said that formal candidacies can be submitted by 9-11 in the morning.

“They will receive proof that they have delivered their letter and then the normal process will follow to check them,” he said.

Previously, the church had requested the electoral rolls from the interior ministry which were handed over, and the church is now in the process of drawing up their own register for the elections. The number of voters will then be made clear.

Eligible to vote in the archbishop’s elections will be individuals over 18 that are registered Christian Orthodox individuals, who have resided in Cyprus for more than a year.

Charilaou said that he expects the roll will be completed in the next week, so that they can be uploaded online.

“They will also enter a platform on the internet, that is, a special platform where anyone interested will be able to put some of their personal information and will be the only ones to see if they are on the list and in which parish or community they are, as happens in many elections,” he added.

Answering a question about what the next procedure will be, Charilaou said that the procedures to hold the elections are not simple, they are very complicated.

“The registers are not the only things needed, that’s why we are constantly working on the process to make correct and impartial elections. And for this reason, I have officially requested, as per the decision of the Holy Synod, any help from the state, which will be given to us,” he said.

Elections for the new prelate are set to be held on December 18.

So far, seven top clerics have thrown their hat in the race – the bishops of Limassol Athanasios, Paphos Georgios, Tamasos Isaias, Constantia/Famagusta Vasilios, Karpasia Christoforos, Kyrenia Chrysostomos, and Morphou Neofytos.

The latest survey, published last Friday, gives Limassol’s Athanasios an unassailable lead at 34.7 per cent. Trailing him were Isaias at 17.1 per cent, Vasilios 12.3 per cent, Georgios 11.4 per cent, Neofytos 10.6 per cent, Christoforos 3.7 per cent, Chrysostomos 3.2 per cent.

 

Follow the Cyprus Mail on Google News

Related Posts

Festival explores experimental music scene

Eleni Philippou

Mixed-marriage Turkish Cypriot loses appeal for citizenship

Tom Cleaver

Two years in jail for killer driver

Jonathan Shkurko

‘Feverish pace’ over monk scandal investigations

Andria Kades

Man threatens to incinerate own mother

Tom Cleaver

Fallout from CyBC delayed budget submission

Rony J. El Daccache