Eurozone crisis live: Cyprus heads for presidential runoff as bailout divides voters Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the latest economic and political developments across the eurozone, and beyond.... Politics is centre-stage this morning, with crucial elections due in Cyprus and Italy next weekend. Last night, the Cypriot presidential election failed to deliver a winner as pro and anti-bailout candidates split the vote. The voting round was won by conservative candidate Nicos Anastasiades, who argued through the campaign that Cyprus must sign up for an aid programme from international lenders. More than 45% of voters concluded that they agreed with Nicos. Nicos Anastasiades addresses the crowd and media in Nicosia last night. But the 66-year old leader of the Democratic Rally party was denied a straight victory by two anti-bailout candidates, who together won over 50% of the vote. Left-wing Stavros Malas (26.9%) and independent candidate George Lillikas (24.9%) both won significant support after argued against signing up a tough austerity package. While Anastasiades is expected to win next Saturday's head-to-head tussle with Malas, his failure to romp to victory last night proves that Cyprus remains divided over its future, some eight months after talks began with the International Monetary Fund over a possible loan deal. The talks had stalled because Cyprus's outgoing communist president, Demetris Christofias, refused to agree the IMF's demands, such as sweeping state asset sales. As my colleague Helena Smith wrote last night, Anastasiades is the favoured candidate among the European establishment: Cyprus's financial crisis was caused, in part, by the heavy losses its banks suffered on their Greek debt holdings. The proposed bailout would be around €17bn, much smaller than previous eurozone rescue packages. But the lack of a deal continues to cause concern in the financial markets. ECB board member Jorg Asmussen says he's hopeful of an agreement by the end of March - assuming the next president is more amenable to selling off the family silver.... I'll be tracking reaction to the Cyprus election through the day, along with the latest twists in Italy as its general election campaign enters its last week. There's also fallout from last weekend's meeting of G20 finance ministers -- where the world's leading nations issued a pledge to avoid a currency war. Not everyone is convinced...