NICOSIA: Voting was under way in Cyprus on Sunday in a left-right presidential runoff to elect a new leader to seal a crucial bailout for the EU state on the brink of bankruptcy.
The vote, being closely watched in European Union capitals, pits rightwing opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades against Stavros Malas, who is backed by the communist party Akel in power during the island's economic downturn.
Clear frontrunner Anastasiades says he has sounded out foreign governments for a possible bridging loan for the public sector "to give us breathing space" to finalise the terms of a bailout.
"Cyprus is at a crossroad. The people of Cyprus are today exercising their democratic right to determine the direction our country will take and in essence their own future," Anastasiades said after casting his vote at a school in the port city of Limassol.
"I am absolutely confident that as of tonight Cyprus will have a new direction. Today's vote marks a new era for Cyprus."
Anastasiades, 66, favours a swift bailout agreement and says he accepts the harsh measures required to secure it, while Malas has campaigned on a pro-bailout but anti-austerity ticket.
Malas, stigmatised by holding a ministerial portfolio in the outgoing administration, says the Mediterranean island can defuse its economic crisis "by returning to the road of growth".
The polls for the 545,000 Greek Cypriot voters on the divided island opened from 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and will close at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT), with the final result expected about an hour after the close.
Anastasiades took 45.46 percent of the vote in a first round on February 17, well ahead of the 26.91 percent polled by Malas, but short of the 50 percent required to secure an outright victory.
The close of campaigning on Friday came against a backdrop of grim economic news, after the European Commission predicted the Cyprus economy will shrink 3.5 percent in 2013 after a 2.3 percent contraction last year.
It said the economy would continue to shrink until 2016.
The election is seen as one of the most important since independence from Britain in 1960, and unlike previous polls on the normally affluent but divided island it has focused on the economy rather than reunification efforts.
If Anastasiades, who has close ties with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, is elected, "there are chances of a good climate and understanding between Nicosia and Brussels," said political analyst Christopheros Christophorou.
Eurozone finance ministers have deferred a decision on the terms for an estimated 17-billion-euro ($23-billion) bailout package until after the election.
President Demetris Christofias, who hands over on February 28, sought a bailout last June and talks have dragged on as the outgoing leader resisted EU pressure to privatise profitable state companies.
The Greece-exposed banking system in Cyprus needs up to nine billion euros as part of the EU bailout.
The international community will also expect the next Greek Cypriot leader to pick up the pieces of a deadlocked UN push for reconciling both sides of the island.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and seized its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
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