BEING the political animals that they are, Cypriots will go to the polls three times this year. First there were there were the legislative elections of May. In December we will have the municipal elections. But just around the corner are the elections to nominate a new Archbishop. Election fatigue? What’s that?
Next Sunday, the first round of the Church elections will take place. The public will visit their designated polling station to vote for the 1,400 Special Representatives. These representatives will next vote for 100 Electors. That will happen three weeks later, to allow for objections to be examined.
The final outcome rests on these Electors, plus 33 ex officio clerics. These will vote separately (two ballots). If a candidate secures a majority in both ballots, he is the winner and the new Primate.
But in the event of a deadlock, the final round of voting is repeated. If no clear winner emerges at the second count, the votes are combined in a single ballot, and the person receiving the most numbers is the victor.
Any person who is over 25 years, is Greek Orthodox and has no criminal record is eligible to stand as a Special Representative. The majority of these are laypersons.
The four candidates for the throne are the bishops of Paphos, Kition (Larnaca), Limassol and Kykkos.
A look at the dynamics behind the elections is useful here. When you go to your designated parish to vote, the ballot will contain the names of Special Representatives. The numbers of these representatives running in each parish varies according to population.
Having done your research beforehand, you should know which representative backs the specific candidate for Archbishop.
But here’s the twist: the Church elections are horizontal, meaning that you can vote for representatives belonging to different camps. Unlike the parliamentary elections, you are not obliged to vote for just one party.
What that means is that every single vote counts – and that’s no clich?. At the end of the day, it is the number of Electors that will tip the balance. And given that even tiny parishes elect a certain number of Electors, the winner will not necessarily be the person who gets the most number of individual votes nationwide. The winner will be the one who gets the most votes – and in the right places.
That is precisely why campaigners are leaving no stone unturned. For example, canvassing for Limassol Bishop Athanasios involves a staggering 13,000 cells across the island.
For his part, Kykkos Bishop Nikiforos is said to have launched his campaign some four years ago by hiring advisors.
Polls have shown that Nikiforos and Athanasios are the frontrunners for the coveted throne. Their supporters are superbly organised and their dioceses extremely wealthy.
Another crucial element is the distribution of Electors. Geographically, there are six bishoprics in Cyprus. The Archbishopric covers the dioceses of Nicosia and Famagusta, nominating 50 Electors. But the rest of the bishoprics (Paphos, Morphou, Limassol, Paphos, Kition and Kyrenia) nominate just 10 Electors each.
In effect, whichever candidate clinches the Archbishopric (Nicosia and Famagusta) will have gone a long way towards winning the election.
All the indications are that this is going to be a close race between Athanasios and Nikiforos, two very distinct personalities.
Athanasios is touted as a holy man, concerned mostly with spiritualism – someone who can put an end to the deluge of scandals that have plagued the Church in recent years.
Nikiforos, on the other hand, is portrayed as a cosmopolitan, practical and energetic cleric who gets things done.
At this point, predictions are risky. What with voting not being mandatory, some are forecasting 30 per cent or more abstentions, so everything is up for grabs.
And while it should mostly be smooth sailing during the first round, problems are bound to come up thereafter. The word on the grapevine is that Paphos Bishop Chrystomos, the caretaker of the Church, might pose objections on technical grounds, demanding a recount
.
For instance, Chrysostomos might argue that certain self-declared atheists should not be allowed to vote. It’s worth recalling that a couple of years ago, the leader of the communist party AKEL Demetris Christofias said he was an atheist.
Incidentally, Christofias has been one of the most high profile supporters of Chrysostomos’ nemesis, Nikiforos. And the Paphos bishop has not taken kindly to AKEL’s involvement in the Archbishopric elections.
So whether you’re a hard-core believer or just curious, visit http://ekloges.churchofcyprus.org.cy on the internet. There you can type in your identity card number and date of birth to find out where to vote.
