Cypriots voted on Sunday in a runoff to elect a president who must clinch a bailout deal before the island nation plunges into a financial meltdown that would revive the euro zonedebt crisis.

Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades, who favours hammering out a quick deal with foreign lenders, is against Communist-backed rival Stavros Malas, who is more wary of the austerity terms accompanying any rescue.

Polls close at 1600 GMT, with the result expected soon afterwards.

Fewer voters were expected to show up at the polls than on February 17 after the third-placed candidate refused to back either contender in the runoff, boosting Anastasiades’s chances.

About a half million Cypriots are eligible to vote but many are expected to abstain or cast blank votes in protest. Both contenders have implored Cypriots not to shirk their duty.

“These elections are so crucial, that really, nobody can turn themselves into a passive spectator,” Malas said as he voted on the outskirts of the divided capital Nicosia.

CROSSROAD

Talks to rescue Nicosia have dragged on eight months since it first sought help, after a Greek sovereign debt restructuring saddled its banks with losses. It is expected to need up to 17 billion euros in aid – worth the size of its entire economy.

Virtually all rescue options – from a bailout loan to a debt writedown or slapping losses on bank depositors – are proving unfeasible because they push Cypriot debt up to unmanageable levels or risk hurting investor sentiment elsewhere in the bloc.

German misgivings about the nation’s commitment to fighting money laundering and strong financial ties with Russia have further complicated the negotiations.

European officials want a bailout agreed by the end of March, ensuring no honeymoon period for the new president, who will be sworn in on February 28 and assume power on March 1.

Longstanding anger over the island’s 40-year-old division into the Greek-speaking south and Turkish north has been relegated to a distant second behind the country’s financial quagmire as an election issue this year.

“Cyprus is at a crossroads,” Anastasiades said as he voted in the port town of Limassol, surrounded by his grandchildren.

“From tomorrow, whoever is elected, should be aware he has to deal with important, critical problems which our country is facing and the immediate handling of the economic crisis.”

A heavy smoker known for his no-nonsense style, Anastasiades is widely respected but suffered political humiliation nine years ago when he supported a U.N. blueprint to reunify the island that was later rejected by the public.

He has suggested the island may even need a bridging loan to tide it over until a rescue is nailed down.

His younger rival Malas is expected to get a boost from his pledges to drive a hard bargain with lenders and anti-austerity rhetoric that resonates with many Cypriots struggling to make ends meet.

Reuters