President Nikos Christodoulides called on members of the public to participate in Sunday’s parliamentary elections after casting his vote in Paphos, declaring that “abstention is not an option”.

Christodoulides voted shortly after 10am at the First Primary School of Yeroskipou accompanied by First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides.

Speaking to journalists afterwards, he described the electoral process as “important” because it concerns “the legislative power of our country”.

“As the executive, we want a parliament with which we can cooperate, primarily for the good of our country, for the good of society, and for the public good,” he said.

The president urged wider participation in the vote and pointed to recent electoral reforms aimed at increasing turnout, including automatic voter registration and legislation lowering the voting age to 17 from the next electoral cycle.

“It is important, it is good for people to participate,” he said.

“Abstention is certainly not an option.”

Asked whether he felt anxious about the outcome, Christodoulides said the government would respect the result regardless of the composition of the next parliament.

“I am not anxious about the election result,” he said.

“Whatever it is, it will be completely respected by the executive, and we will work with the new parliament, so that our country can advance even further.”

The president also addressed the tone of the election campaign, saying political debate should have focused more heavily on substantive issues affecting the public and developments surrounding the Cyprus problem.

“It would clearly be better to have a more substantial exchange of positions and opinions,” he said, while adding that “regardless, today the Cypriot people will decide, and the result will be completely respected.”

Questioned regarding future political cooperation following the elections, Christodoulides said the government remained prepared to work with parties and MPs sharing common goals but rejected the prospect of political compromise detached from ideology.

“We are ready to cooperate on the basis of our ideological political approach,” he said. “Under no circumstances on the basis of any compromise.”

He also defended the role of ideology in politics at a time when, as he put it, some internationally claim ideological divisions no longer matter.

“We must have a clear ideological political direction,” Christodoulides said. “This is what we do and based on this we also choose candidate MPs.”

The president confirmed he made his own electoral choice according to what he described as the government’s framework of “social liberalism”, while declining to reveal how many preference votes he cast.

“It doesn’t matter if I voted for one or two,” he said. “I voted, I exercised my right to vote, I did not abstain.”

During a lighter exchange with reporters, Christodoulides said he would primarily follow the election count later in the evening despite also wanting updates from the football final in Athens involving his football team Olympiacos Piraeus, a club he openly supports alongside Paphos FC.