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No.4 Sunday, 30/5/2021
The President of the Republic exercised his right to vote in the Parliamentary Elections
The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, today exercised his right to vote in the 2021 Parliamentary Elections, at Laniteio Lyceum, in Lemesos.
The President of the Republic arrived at the polling station at 9:30am, accompanied by his spouse, Mrs Andri Anastasiades, and other members of his immediate family.
After casting his vote, the President of the Republic in his remarks to the media said that “we all say that today is a celebration of democracy and is really an opportunity for the people to exercise their power, to exercise their right to vote, to elect who will be the law makers for the next five years”.
He added that “Abraham Lincoln – I will quote him because it is important – said that the vote is mightier than the bullet. The bullet can kill your enemy, your vote can ‘kill’ the future of your children. I would add that abstention from voting has the same result. Therefore, I call on all citizens to choose, on the basis of their own judgement, those who can guarantee the future of our children.
So far, as I am informed, everything is going well and I am certain that the same will hold up until the end of the election. That is why I would like to warmly congratulate the Police Force, the civil servants who work at the polling stations. And finally to call on all the citizens, once more, to abandon what would possibly give the right to others to decide for them. In other words, to get off the couch, as we say, and go to the polling stations.
To a remark by a reporter that posters of candidates and parties have not been taken down, as the law requires, President Anastasiades said that “I do not think that this is one of the most important problems that could distort or corrode the electoral result.
I think that we should re-examine these anachronistic provisions of the law. In my view, these are the least (of the problems) if one considers that today through the social media it is not only messages that are being sent but also everything else that we witness. I am not encouraging violation of the law. I am simply saying what is needed to be done after the elections”.
Replying to a question whether due to the pandemic there might be an increased percentage of voters who will react negatively, the President said that “I think that the successful management of the pandemic should be credited to the measures taken by the Government, especially if Cyprus is compared to all the European countries”.
To a remark by a journalist that for the first time mobile ballot boxes are available for people who are too ill to go to the polling stations, the President said that “I believe this proves once more the ability of the Republic of Cyprus to fulfil, under the most difficult conditions, its obligations towards the citizens”._____________
RM/EH/SCH