Nicos Anastasiades

Nicos Anastasiades
Νίκος Αναστασιάδης
7th President of Cyprus
Assumed office
28 February 2013
Preceded by Demetris Christofias
President of the Democratic Rally
In office
8 June 1997 – 28 February 2013
Preceded by Yiannakis Matsis
Succeeded by Averof Neofytou
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
1981 – 28 February 2013
Constituency Limassol
Personal details
Born (1946-09-27) 27 September 1946
Pera Pedi, Cyprus
Political party Democratic Rally
Spouse(s) Andri Moustakoudes
Children
  • Elsa
  • Ino
Alma mater National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
University College London
Religion Greek Orthodox

Nicos Anastasiades (Greek: Νίκος Αναστασιάδης [ˈnikos anastasiˈaðis]; born 27 September 1946) is a Cypriot politician who has been President of Cyprus since 2013. Previously, he was the leader of Democratic Rally and a Member of Parliament for Limassol.

Education

Anastasiades is a lawyer by profession, and the founder of law firm "Nicos Chr. Anastasiades & Partners".[1] He graduated in law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and completed postgraduate studies in shipping law at University College London. During his university studies, he was a member of the Centre Coalition based in Athens formed by Georgios Papandreou.[2]

Political career

Anastasiades was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1981 and was leader of his party from 1997 until 2013.[3] On 18 February 2013 he was sworn in as President of Cyprus.

Military conscription

Angela Merkel with Nicos Anastasiades in 2007 at the EPP summit.

During his electoral campaign for the post of Cyprus President in 2013, he announced his commitment to reduce military conscription in Cyprus to 14 months during the first hundred days of his term.[4] During the early months of Nicos Anastasiades administration there has been important planning for the reduction of military conscription to 14 months in order to increase the incentive for the 18 years old to serve their conscription and to reduce the financial burden to the Cypriot state. Minister of Defence Fotis Fotiou has announced that there will be a final decision to the reduction of military conscription towards late 2013. There has been increasing pressure for ending military conscription due to the 2012–13 Cypriot financial crisis.

In early August 2013, Minister of Defence Fotis Fotiou announced the reduction of military service which was in the electoral manifesto of Anastasiades. He supported that national service will be reduced to 18 months in the first phase and decrease further to 14 months before the end of 2014. On 25th February 2016, it was decided by the cabinet to reduce the military service to 18 months for all conscripts who joined in the summer of 2015, and to reduce the service to 14 months for all those who joined thereafter.[5]

Cyprus problem

Anastasiades supported the Annan Plan for Cyprus, even though a majority (61%) of his party voted it down. Some of his intra-party opposition were even calling for Anastasiades to step down.[6] Many party cadres were up in arms over Anastasiades' letter to the European Parliament alleging that the government trampled on free speech and human rights during the campaign. The government cited the National Television Council's data that showed that the six parties supporting the "No" vote got as much air time as the two that supported the UN plan.[7] The start of peace negotiations between Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart began in October of 2013, attracting the interest of international media and world leaders including Barack Obama.[8]

President of Cyprus

Further information: Anastasiades Government

In March 2012, Nicos Anastasiades was nominated as a candidate for the 2013 Cypriot presidential election, against his rival MEP Eleni Theocharous in a vote among the 1,008 strong executive of the Democratic Rally.[9] Nicos Anastasiades earned 673 votes (86.73%) and MEP Theocharous 103 (13.27%). On the first round of the presidential election on 17 February 2013, Anastasiades won 45% of votes, while Stavros Malas and George Lillikas earned 26.9% and 24.9%, respectively.[10] He won in the second round with 57.48% of the vote and became the 7th President of Cyprus on February 28 2013 at the age of 67 years old.

Personal life

He married Andri Moustakoudi in 1971 and they have two daughters.[2] He has a twin brother and a sister.[11]

Distinctions

Nicos Anastasiades in April 2013

Gallery

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicos Anastasiades.

References

  1. ↑ "Anastasiades & Partners". Cyprus Law. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Index". Anastasiades. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Nicos Anastasiades". Economist Conferences, CEMEA. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Δέσμευση Αναστασιάδη για μείωση της στρατιωτικής θητείας μειωση, στρατιωτες, δεσμευση, θητειας". Axortagos. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Government cuts army service". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ George Gilson (30 April 2004). "'No' shakes Cyprus party politics". Athens News. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "Great opportunity to resolve Cyprus problem: Obama". Cyprus Mail. August 9, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Disy picks Nicos, Nicos Anastasiades, Disy, Eleni Theocharous". ISG. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Nicos Anastasiades winner of first round of elections in Cyprus". Nasdaq. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  11. ↑ http://www.presidency.gov.cy/presidency/presidency.nsf/prc01_en/prc01_en?opendocument
  12. 1 2 "Anastasiades Chr. Nicos". Parliament. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Yiannakis Matsis		 Leader of the Democratic Rally
1997–2013 		Succeeded by
TBD
Political offices
Preceded by
Demetris Christofias		 President of Cyprus
2013–present 		Incumbent
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