People in Cyprus elected former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides to be the country's next president, with Christodoulides winning the tight vote over seasoned diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis.

Christodoulides' led with nearly 52% of the votes, according to the official results. Mavroyiannis meanwhile scored 48.1%.

Polling stations closed at 6:00 p. m. local time (1600 GMT).

Mavroyiannis is backed by the communist AKEL party, while Christodoulides split away from the ruling conservative Democratic Rally (DISY) and has received support from a number of smaller centrist and right-wing parties. DISY candidate Averof Neofytou came third in the first round of voting last week, causing the party to be left out of the final stage of the presidential race for the first time in its history.

Cyprus's ruling party has not thrown its support behind either candidate in the runoff.

Major issues of concern for voters have been the cost of living crisis, irregular immigration and the Cyprus dispute involving the Turkish-occupied north of the island.

Ahead of the vote, Andreas Theophanous of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs think tank said that many voters were likely to opt for "the least worse candidate — a characteristic in most elections, but more so in this one."

Outgoing President Nicos Anastasiades urged Cypriots to come out "en masse to participate in this electoral process."

"This is our duty. The people decide, the majority decides and the minority respects," he said.

Who are the candidates?

 Christodoulides was expelled from the ruling DISY party after announcing his candidacy and ran as an independent. In the first round of voting last week, he was in the lead with 32.04% of the vote.

The upcoming president was appointed government spokesman in 2014 and foreign minister in 2018. He has the support of the Democratic Party, the Movement for Social Democracy and the Democratic Alignment.

Opponents have accused Christodoulides of contributing to deadlock over resolving the status of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north during his term as foreign minister.

"The Cypriot people know and understand what is at stake... I have complete confidence in their judgement," Christodoulides told reporters.

"What is important is unity," Christodoulides said after casting his vote.

Andreas Mavroyiannis, who is backed by the communist AKEL party, received 29.59% in the first round last Sunday.

Movrayiannis is also seasoned diplomat, having served as the negotiator for the Greek Cypriot side in the Cyprus talks under Anastasiades and was Cyprus's permanent representative at the UN.

"I think we're doing very well, all the indications are that we'll be the winners and so will Cyprus," Mavroyiannis said before the results were announced.

sdi/dj (AFP, AP, Reuters)