Kedara keeps its election tradition alive as elderly voters return to the polls

Voters across the Paphos district have been arriving steadily at polling stations since early morning on Sunday, with some of the strongest participation recorded among elderly residents in rural communities.

In Kedara – one of the smallest polling stations in Cyprus with just 66 registered voters – residents gathered at the community hall where the ballot box was set up for the parliamentary elections.

Many of those casting ballots were elderly villagers who have remained in the mountain community despite decades of depopulation and urban migration.

Kedara community leader, 75-year-old Grigoris Ioannou, said the village has been heavily affected by migration to the cities, with most remaining residents now pensioners.

He said the youngest permanent resident is 67 years old while the oldest is 93.

Reflecting on earlier decades, he recalled a time when Kedara’s school had 120 students and three teachers and when buses regularly connected the village to Limassol and Paphos.

He said his “burning desire” is to support the countryside and preserve village life, adding that he would never leave the community where he was born.

He also welcomed the inclusion of Kedara in a state heating allowance scheme for Troodos communities.

Residents also spoke about memories of coexistence with Turkish Cypriots before 1974, expressing hopes for reunification and recalling close personal relationships across communities.

Among those voting was 91-year-old Louis Markantonis, who said he has never missed an election in his life. A retired firefighter who worked in the British bases, he recalled to reporters earlier decades when Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots “lived like brothers”.

He said local communities once coexisted peacefully despite later tensions.

Elsewhere in Paphos, elderly voters continued arriving throughout the day, often assisted by relatives or walking with canes.

A 92-year-old voter from Kelokedara described voting as “non-negotiable”, while another resident said she had voted in every election “since the time of Makarios”.

المصدر: Cyprus Mail