Greens will not back a candidate in the second round

The Green party decided not to back either of the two remaining candidates on Sunday’s presidential election after the electoral conference returned a split vote.

Akel-backed Andreas Mavroyiannis secured 44.3 per cent in favour, followed by Nikos Christodoulides’ 32.8 per cent. Blank ballots accounted for 21.3 per cent.

The party would have backed a candidate had they secured 60 per cent of the vote, but with no such outcome the party advised a free vote.

The party also called on members of the electoral conference not to publicly participate in the campaign and not to partake in celebrations of the eventual victor.