The head of Cyprus’s AKEL party, Dimitris Christofias, told Sunday’s Kathimerini that if elected president in February, he will provide a more “flexible” approach to reunification talks than current leader Tassos Papadopoulos.

“We urgently need to take the initiative,” said Christofias. “We gave to follow a more flexible policy that will not negotiate Cyprus’s rights but will display convincing signs of political will to reach an agreement.”

Christofias said that Ankara and Turkish-Cypriot leaders are responsible for the current lack of movement on reunification talks but Papadopoulos’s policy has led to other countries blaming Nicosia for the holdup.

“We are constantly defending ourselves and attempting to prove that we really want a solution,” he said

A poll published in the Phileleftheros newspaper yesterday had Papadopoulos on 30.8 percent and Christofias on 26.3 percent. The two candidates were split by DISY-backed former foreign minister Ioannis Kasoulidis who garnered 29.6 percent.