Next year’s presidential elections were proclaimed today, with a decree by the Interior Minister published in the Official Gazette.

So far the interest of new voters to register in the electoral roll remains low.

Head of the Election Service Demetris Demetriou told CNA that applications submitted by Friday morning by new voters are approximately 6,600 while the number of new voters is 40,000. The deadline for registration in the electoral roll is Monday, December 18.

Demetriou said that on Wednesday and Thursday the number of applications submitted was slightly higher, compared with the previous days but it is very low compared to the corresponding period of 2013, when the previous presidential elections took place.

He noted that during the past five days before the expiration of the deadline in 2013 the number of applications submitted daily were 1250 while this time their number is approximately 500 per day. The total number of applications by new voters submitted for the 2013 presidential elections were approximately 16 thousand.

Demetriou said that the next milestone on the road towards the presidential elections, that will take place on January 28, 2018, is the submission of the candidacies on December 29. A run off election is set to take place on February 4, 2018, if necessary.

Demetriou also said that there is increased interest by public servants to work at election centres, while the interest by unemployed university graduates is very low.

As regards the statements submitted by voters who want to vote abroad, Demetriou said that they are over 8 thousand, noting that their number in 2013 was 13,500. The deadline for submission of such statements is also December 18.

Demetriou said that on the basis of the statements submitted so far, election centres will operate in cities in Greece and the UK as well as in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Prague, Sophia and the Hague. He noted that this is the first time an election centre will operate in the Hague, as the number of voters who have submitted a statement expressing their will to vote there is over 50.

Moreover, election centres will operate in New York, Manama in Bahrein, Dubai in the UAE and Doha in Qatar.

The main contenders in the 2018 presidential elections are incumbent President Nicos Anastasiades, Stavros Malas who is running as an independent, Democratic Party leader Nikolas Papadopoulos, President of the Citizens’ Alliance Yiorgos Lillikas and the leader of ELAM Christos Christou.