Elections in Cyprus
Encyclopedia
Elections in Cyprus gives information on election
and election results in Cyprus
.
Cyprus
elects on national level a head of state
- the president
- and a legislature
. The election of the President is direct
, by universal suffrage and secret ballot. Voting is compulsory
and every citizen over the age of 18 must vote, by law.
The president is elected for a five year term by the people. The election of a new President takes place before the expiration of the five-year period of office of the outgoing President so as to enable the newly-elected President to be invested on the date that period expires.
Candidates for election must be citizens of the Republic of Cyprus and over 35 years of age.
If there is only one candidate for election, he is declared elected.
A candidate to be elected needs more than 50% of the votes validly cast. If none of the candidates attains the required majority the election is repeated on the corresponding day of the following week between the two candidates who received the greater number of votes. The candidate who receives the greatest number of votes at these repeated elections is deemed elected.
If there is a vacancy in the office of Presidential, the vacancy is filled by a by-election taking place within a period not exceeding 45 days of the occurrence of such a vacancy.
In the event of a temporary absence or incapacity of the President to perform his duties, the President of the House of Representatives acts for him.
The House of Representatives
(Vouli Antiprosópon/Temsilciler Meclisi) has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation
and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Roman-Catholic and Armenian
minorities. 24 seats are allocated to the Turkish community.
Cyprus has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties
and a third party that is electorally successful.
According to article 62(1) of the Constitution the number of representatives is 50. Out of this number 35 are elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 15 by the Turkish Cypriot Community. The Turkish Cypriot seats remain vacant since 1964 when the Turkish Cypriot representatives withdrew from the House.
However, for the smooth running of the House of Representatives and of the Committees in particular, the House decided in July 1985 by adopting law 124, to increase the seats to 80. Of these 56 (70%) representatives are elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 24 (30%) by the Turkish Cypriot Community, as provided in article 62(2) of the Constitution.
ex officio members. The vote of the British head of the assembly weighted more in case of a 50%-50% disagreement. Thus traditionally the Turkish Cypriot and British members would cooperate and pass legislation despite the disagreements of the Greek Cypriot members. In 1931 Necati Bey, a Turkish Cypriot supporter of Kemal Atatürk was elected (in previous years Turkish Cypriot members were hailed from the Ottoman ruling class). Necati Bey agreed with the Greek Cypriot members on several issues. This made the British governor, Sir Ronald Storrs to ignore the assembly when passing the bills. Angry Greek Cypriot members started a riot and the constitution was abolished.
The first municipal elections happened in 1943. Two of the winning mayors were members of AKEL: Ploutis Servas
in Limassol
and Adam Adamantos in Famagusta
, and the other six where Greek nationalists
. In 1946 the situation was reversed: 6 were either members or supported by AKEL, including Ioannis Klerides in Nicosia
.
supporters were in favour of Makarios III
, whereas AKEL backed Ioannis Kleridis (father of Glafkos Klerides
). Klerides was also backed by independent politicians, both left wingers like Ploutis Servas
and right wingers like Themistoklis Dervis. The Turkish Cypriot community elected Fazil Küçük
for the position of vice president unopposed.
The next elections were due in 1965 but were postponed as a result of the extraordinary situation created by the intercommunal strife. The term of office was extended by a law of the House of Representatives.
President Makarios distanced himself from his earlier enosis convictions in his 1968 presidential campaign and argued for the independence of Cyprus. He declared that Enosis
was wishable but independence was possible. His opponent was the psychiatrist Takis Evdokas who was campaigning for Enosis. Makarios won the election. Turkish Cypriots were not participating in the government (see Cyprus dispute
) but they had separate elections were Fazil Küçük was reelected as vice president.
In 1973 Makarios was reelected unopposed. Rauf Denktaş
was elected vice president.
Following the death of Makarios in 1977, After his death in 1977 the then President of the House of Representatives, Spyros Kyprianou, assumed duties temporarily until 1978 elections
In the 1978 election, Glafkos Klerides was backed by his party, Democratic Rally
whereas Spyros Kyprianou
was backed by the other Greek Cypriot parties. Following the kidnapping of Kyprianou's son, Achilleas, Klerides did not run for the election and Kyprianou won.
In 1983 Kyprianou's Democratic Party (Cyprus)
forged an alliance with AKEL based on an agreed agenda: the so called minimum program. Kyprianou was reelected in the presidential elections of that year. He was opposed by Glafcos Clerides, the leader of the right-wing Democratic Rally party and Vassos Lyssarides of the Socialist party, EDEK.
By 1985 AKEL was not satisfied with Kyprianou's policies, especially his position in negotiations (see Cyprus dispute
for more) and the partnership collapsed. AKEL found its new candidate for the 1988 election in George Vasiliou
who managed to get to the second round of elections together with Glafkos Klerides. Kyprianou did not get enough votes. With the added support of EDEK
, whose candidate Vasos Lyssaridis did not do very well in the first round, Vasiliou won the second round.
While the Democratic Rally had been supporting Vasiliou in negotiating the Ghali
set of ideas, as the 1993 elections were approaching it started criticising Vasiliou for not demanding enough. At the same time a partnership of Kyprianou's democratic party and Lyssaridis's EDEK was rejecting the spirit of the Ghali ideas all together and argued that both Vasiliou and Klerides were equally willing to compromise. The partnership received strong support by the Church and its candidate was Paschalis Paschalidis.
Paschalidis didn't make it to the second round, however the democratic party made an agreement with Klerides and supported him. Thus Klerides was elected in 1993,defeating George Vassiliou, who again ran as an Independent candidate supported by AKEL and ADISOK, forming a government with members of both Democratic Rally and the Democratic Party.
The main issue of the 1998 election campaign was the purchase of S-300 antiaircraft missiles from Russia
. Klerides was backed by EDEK whereas the democratic party and AKEL were backing George Iacovou, ex minister in the Kyprianou and Vasiliou governments. Klerides won the election.
For the 2003 election EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou declared himself candidate and the democratic rally initially backed him. Because of the course of negotiations Clerides asked to remain president for another couple of years, so the democratic rally backed him. This made EDEK turn to the opposition coalition already formed between AKEL and Democratic Party. The leader of the latter, Tassos Papadopoulos
was chosen as a candidate. In the meantime the attorney general Alekos Markides disagreed with his party, Democratic Rally and ran as an independent candidate.
Papadopoulos won from the first round.
Five parties contested the 5 July 1970 elections. Three of these, the Unified Party, the Progressive Front, and the opposition Democratic National Party, were right-wing, one, the Unified Democratic Union of Centre (EDEK), of the centre and the other, AKEL, left-wing.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Part No of Seats
----
Unified Party 15
AKEL 9
Progressive Front 7
EDEK 2
Independents 2
The third parliamentary elections took place on 5 September 1976, two years after the Turkish invasion. It was contested by the Democratic Rally, the Democratic Front(Democratic Party), socialist EDEK and left-wing AKEL. The right-wing Democratic Rally received about 26% of the votes, but due to a coalition ranged against it, was left with no Deputies.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Front 21
AKEL 9
EDEK 4
Independents 1
In all the above parliamentary elections, the electoral majority system was used.
The fourth parliamentary elections took place on 24 May 1981. The elections were contested by the right-wing Democratic Rally, the centre Democratic Party, the New Democratic Front and the Union of Centre, socialist EDEK and left-wing AKEL and PAME.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
AKEL 12
Democratic Rally 12
Democratic Party 8
EDEK 3
In the above election, a type of proportional system with threshold was used.
The fifth parliamentary elections took place on 8 December 1985. Following a law passed by the House of Representatives the number of seats allocated to the Greek Cypriot community was increased from 35 to 56. The number of Turkish Cypriot seats was raised from 15 to 24.
The elections were contested by four parties - the right-wing Democratic Rally, the centre Democratic Party, the socialist EDEK and left-wing AKEL - as well as independent candidates.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Rally 19
Democratic Party 16
AKEL 15
EDEK 6
Independents 0
Vassos Lyssarides, leader of socialist party EDEK, was elected House President. His candidature was supported by his party and by the Democratic Party.
The sixth parliamentary elections took place on 19 May 1991. They were contested by the following political parties or party groupings - the Democratic Rally Party in coalition with the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party, the Socialist Party EDEK, AKEL-Left-New Forces Party and two new parties the Refugee Movement (PAKOP) and the Reformed Left (ADISOK), a splinter group from AKEL.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Rally-Liberals 20
AKEL-Left- New Forces 18
Democratic Party 11
EDEK-Socialist Party 7
Others 0
Alexis Galanos (Democratic Party) was elected House President with the joint votes of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Rally - Liberals coalition.
The seventh parliamentary elections took place on 26 May 1996. They were held under a newly-adopted system of proportional representation
according to which a party receiving 1/56 of the valid votes or (1,79%) elected a House member. The new voting system encouraged the participation of more parties in the elections. The following political parties took part in the 1996 elections - the Democratic Rally - Liberal Party coalition, the New Horizons Party, the Democratic Party, the Movement of Free Democrats (of former President Vassiliou), the Ecologist Movement, the Socialist Party EDEK, the new Left (ADISOK) and the AKEL-Left-New Forces Party.
Spyros Kyprianou was elected House President.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Rally-Liberals 20
AKEL-Left- New Forces 19
Democratic Party 10
EDEK-Socialist Party 5
Free Democrats 2
Others 0
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
and election results in Cyprus
Politics of Cyprus
Politics of the Republic of Cyprus takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Cyprus is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...
.
Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
elects on national level a head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
- the president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
- and a legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
. The election of the President is direct
Direct election
Direct election is a term describing a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the person, persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the...
, by universal suffrage and secret ballot. Voting is compulsory
Compulsory voting
Compulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...
and every citizen over the age of 18 must vote, by law.
The president is elected for a five year term by the people. The election of a new President takes place before the expiration of the five-year period of office of the outgoing President so as to enable the newly-elected President to be invested on the date that period expires.
Candidates for election must be citizens of the Republic of Cyprus and over 35 years of age.
If there is only one candidate for election, he is declared elected.
A candidate to be elected needs more than 50% of the votes validly cast. If none of the candidates attains the required majority the election is repeated on the corresponding day of the following week between the two candidates who received the greater number of votes. The candidate who receives the greatest number of votes at these repeated elections is deemed elected.
If there is a vacancy in the office of Presidential, the vacancy is filled by a by-election taking place within a period not exceeding 45 days of the occurrence of such a vacancy.
In the event of a temporary absence or incapacity of the President to perform his duties, the President of the House of Representatives acts for him.
The House of Representatives
House of Representatives of Cyprus
The House of Representatives is the parliament of Cyprus. It has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Latin and Armenian minorities...
(Vouli Antiprosópon/Temsilciler Meclisi) has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Roman-Catholic and Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
minorities. 24 seats are allocated to the Turkish community.
Cyprus has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
and a third party that is electorally successful.
According to article 62(1) of the Constitution the number of representatives is 50. Out of this number 35 are elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 15 by the Turkish Cypriot Community. The Turkish Cypriot seats remain vacant since 1964 when the Turkish Cypriot representatives withdrew from the House.
However, for the smooth running of the House of Representatives and of the Committees in particular, the House decided in July 1985 by adopting law 124, to increase the seats to 80. Of these 56 (70%) representatives are elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 24 (30%) by the Turkish Cypriot Community, as provided in article 62(2) of the Constitution.
2011 Legislative election
2006 Legislative election
2008 Presidential election
Past elections
The British colonial administration drafted a constitution for Cyprus a few years after Cyprus was bought from the Ottomans (1878). The legislative assembly was to have 9 Greek Cypriot members, 3 Turkish Cypriot members (all elected) and 6 BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
ex officio members. The vote of the British head of the assembly weighted more in case of a 50%-50% disagreement. Thus traditionally the Turkish Cypriot and British members would cooperate and pass legislation despite the disagreements of the Greek Cypriot members. In 1931 Necati Bey, a Turkish Cypriot supporter of Kemal Atatürk was elected (in previous years Turkish Cypriot members were hailed from the Ottoman ruling class). Necati Bey agreed with the Greek Cypriot members on several issues. This made the British governor, Sir Ronald Storrs to ignore the assembly when passing the bills. Angry Greek Cypriot members started a riot and the constitution was abolished.
The first municipal elections happened in 1943. Two of the winning mayors were members of AKEL: Ploutis Servas
Ploutis Servas
Ploutis Servas , was a Cypriot former politician, reporter, and author. Servas was born Ploutarhos Loizou Savvidis and changed his surname to Servas while still a student in secondary education.Servas was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1907. He studied social sciences in Moscow...
in Limassol
Limassol
Limassol is the second-largest city in Cyprus, with a population of 228,000 . It is the largest city in geographical size, and the biggest municipality on the island. The city is located on Akrotiri Bay, on the island's southern coast and it is the capital of Limassol District.Limassol is the...
and Adam Adamantos in Famagusta
Famagusta
Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.-Name:...
, and the other six where Greek nationalists
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. In 1946 the situation was reversed: 6 were either members or supported by AKEL, including Ioannis Klerides in Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
.
Presidential Elections
The first presidential elections for independent Cyprus took place in 1960. The bulk of EOKAEOKA
EOKA was an anticolonial, antiimperialist nationalist organisation with the ultimate goal of "The liberation of Cyprus from the British yoke". Although not stated in its initial declaration of existence which was printed and distributed on the 1st of April 1955, EOKA also had a target of achieving...
supporters were in favour of Makarios III
Makarios III
Makarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....
, whereas AKEL backed Ioannis Kleridis (father of Glafkos Klerides
Glafkos Klerides
Glafcos Ioannou Clerides is a Greek-Cypriot politician and the fourth President of the Republic of Cyprus.Clerides was the eldest son of the lawyer and statesman Ioannis Clerides....
). Klerides was also backed by independent politicians, both left wingers like Ploutis Servas
Ploutis Servas
Ploutis Servas , was a Cypriot former politician, reporter, and author. Servas was born Ploutarhos Loizou Savvidis and changed his surname to Servas while still a student in secondary education.Servas was born in Limassol, Cyprus in 1907. He studied social sciences in Moscow...
and right wingers like Themistoklis Dervis. The Turkish Cypriot community elected Fazil Küçük
Fazil Küçük
Fazıl Küçük was the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus.Fazıl Küçük, the son of a farmer, was born in Nicosia in 1906. After graduating from the Turkish High School in Nicosia, Küçük went on to study medicine at the Universities of Istanbul, Lausanne and Paris...
for the position of vice president unopposed.
The next elections were due in 1965 but were postponed as a result of the extraordinary situation created by the intercommunal strife. The term of office was extended by a law of the House of Representatives.
President Makarios distanced himself from his earlier enosis convictions in his 1968 presidential campaign and argued for the independence of Cyprus. He declared that Enosis
Enosis
Enosis refers to the movement of the Greek-Cypriot population to incorporate the island of Cyprus into Greece.Similar movements had previously developed in other regions with ethnic Greek majorities such as the Ionian Islands, Crete and the Dodecanese. These regions were eventually incorporated...
was wishable but independence was possible. His opponent was the psychiatrist Takis Evdokas who was campaigning for Enosis. Makarios won the election. Turkish Cypriots were not participating in the government (see Cyprus dispute
Cyprus dispute
The Cyprus dispute is the result of the ongoing conflict between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey, over the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus....
) but they had separate elections were Fazil Küçük was reelected as vice president.
In 1973 Makarios was reelected unopposed. Rauf Denktaş
Rauf Denktas
Rauf Raif Denktaş is the founder and the first president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus , a de facto state which is only recognized by Turkey...
was elected vice president.
Following the death of Makarios in 1977, After his death in 1977 the then President of the House of Representatives, Spyros Kyprianou, assumed duties temporarily until 1978 elections
In the 1978 election, Glafkos Klerides was backed by his party, Democratic Rally
Democratic Rally
The Democratic Rally , is a centre-right political party in Cyprus, led by Nicos Anastasiades.The party was founded on 4 July 1976 by veteran politician Glafkos Klerides. Clerides served as Cyprus president from 1993 until 2003....
whereas Spyros Kyprianou
Spyros Kyprianou
Spyros Achilleos Kyprianou was one of the most prominent politicians of modern Cyprus. He served as the second President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1977 to 1988....
was backed by the other Greek Cypriot parties. Following the kidnapping of Kyprianou's son, Achilleas, Klerides did not run for the election and Kyprianou won.
In 1983 Kyprianou's Democratic Party (Cyprus)
Democratic Party (Cyprus)
The Democratic Party is a centrist political party in Cyprus, founded in 1976 by Spyros Kyprianou. As it is reported in its founding statement , the Democratic Party proposes to the Cypriot society the political philosophy of "social centrism", which constitutes “a total of attributes and values...
forged an alliance with AKEL based on an agreed agenda: the so called minimum program. Kyprianou was reelected in the presidential elections of that year. He was opposed by Glafcos Clerides, the leader of the right-wing Democratic Rally party and Vassos Lyssarides of the Socialist party, EDEK.
By 1985 AKEL was not satisfied with Kyprianou's policies, especially his position in negotiations (see Cyprus dispute
Cyprus dispute
The Cyprus dispute is the result of the ongoing conflict between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey, over the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus....
for more) and the partnership collapsed. AKEL found its new candidate for the 1988 election in George Vasiliou
George Vasiliou
Georgios Vasos Vassiliou was the third President of the Republic of Cyprus from 1988 to 1993. He was also the founder and leader of the Cypriot United Democrats party and a highly successful businessman....
who managed to get to the second round of elections together with Glafkos Klerides. Kyprianou did not get enough votes. With the added support of EDEK
Movement for Social Democracy
The Movement for Social Democracy EDEK is a Social Democratic party in Cyprus. It was originally founded by Dr Vasos Lyssaridis in 1969 as the United Democratic Union of Centre, EDEK and it was socialist party. It has gradually evolved into a social-democratic political party...
, whose candidate Vasos Lyssaridis did not do very well in the first round, Vasiliou won the second round.
While the Democratic Rally had been supporting Vasiliou in negotiating the Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996...
set of ideas, as the 1993 elections were approaching it started criticising Vasiliou for not demanding enough. At the same time a partnership of Kyprianou's democratic party and Lyssaridis's EDEK was rejecting the spirit of the Ghali ideas all together and argued that both Vasiliou and Klerides were equally willing to compromise. The partnership received strong support by the Church and its candidate was Paschalis Paschalidis.
Paschalidis didn't make it to the second round, however the democratic party made an agreement with Klerides and supported him. Thus Klerides was elected in 1993,defeating George Vassiliou, who again ran as an Independent candidate supported by AKEL and ADISOK, forming a government with members of both Democratic Rally and the Democratic Party.
The main issue of the 1998 election campaign was the purchase of S-300 antiaircraft missiles from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Klerides was backed by EDEK whereas the democratic party and AKEL were backing George Iacovou, ex minister in the Kyprianou and Vasiliou governments. Klerides won the election.
For the 2003 election EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou declared himself candidate and the democratic rally initially backed him. Because of the course of negotiations Clerides asked to remain president for another couple of years, so the democratic rally backed him. This made EDEK turn to the opposition coalition already formed between AKEL and Democratic Party. The leader of the latter, Tassos Papadopoulos
Tassos Papadopoulos
Tassos Nikolaou Papadopoulos was a Cypriot politician. He served as the fifth President of the Republic of Cyprus from February 28, 2003 to February 28, 2008.His parents were Nicolas and Aggeliki from Assia. He was the first of three children...
was chosen as a candidate. In the meantime the attorney general Alekos Markides disagreed with his party, Democratic Rally and ran as an independent candidate.
Papadopoulos won from the first round.
Parliament Elections
The 1960 parliamentary elections were contested by three parties and a number of independent candidates. The right-wing "Patriot Front" won 30 seats, left-wing AKEL won five seats while the Pancyprian Union of Fighters did not win any seats. No parliamentary elections were held in 1965 because of the prevailing intercommunal tension.Five parties contested the 5 July 1970 elections. Three of these, the Unified Party, the Progressive Front, and the opposition Democratic National Party, were right-wing, one, the Unified Democratic Union of Centre (EDEK), of the centre and the other, AKEL, left-wing.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Part No of Seats
----
Unified Party 15
AKEL 9
Progressive Front 7
EDEK 2
Independents 2
The third parliamentary elections took place on 5 September 1976, two years after the Turkish invasion. It was contested by the Democratic Rally, the Democratic Front(Democratic Party), socialist EDEK and left-wing AKEL. The right-wing Democratic Rally received about 26% of the votes, but due to a coalition ranged against it, was left with no Deputies.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Front 21
AKEL 9
EDEK 4
Independents 1
In all the above parliamentary elections, the electoral majority system was used.
The fourth parliamentary elections took place on 24 May 1981. The elections were contested by the right-wing Democratic Rally, the centre Democratic Party, the New Democratic Front and the Union of Centre, socialist EDEK and left-wing AKEL and PAME.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
AKEL 12
Democratic Rally 12
Democratic Party 8
EDEK 3
In the above election, a type of proportional system with threshold was used.
The fifth parliamentary elections took place on 8 December 1985. Following a law passed by the House of Representatives the number of seats allocated to the Greek Cypriot community was increased from 35 to 56. The number of Turkish Cypriot seats was raised from 15 to 24.
The elections were contested by four parties - the right-wing Democratic Rally, the centre Democratic Party, the socialist EDEK and left-wing AKEL - as well as independent candidates.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Rally 19
Democratic Party 16
AKEL 15
EDEK 6
Independents 0
Vassos Lyssarides, leader of socialist party EDEK, was elected House President. His candidature was supported by his party and by the Democratic Party.
The sixth parliamentary elections took place on 19 May 1991. They were contested by the following political parties or party groupings - the Democratic Rally Party in coalition with the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party, the Socialist Party EDEK, AKEL-Left-New Forces Party and two new parties the Refugee Movement (PAKOP) and the Reformed Left (ADISOK), a splinter group from AKEL.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Rally-Liberals 20
AKEL-Left- New Forces 18
Democratic Party 11
EDEK-Socialist Party 7
Others 0
Alexis Galanos (Democratic Party) was elected House President with the joint votes of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Rally - Liberals coalition.
The seventh parliamentary elections took place on 26 May 1996. They were held under a newly-adopted system of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
according to which a party receiving 1/56 of the valid votes or (1,79%) elected a House member. The new voting system encouraged the participation of more parties in the elections. The following political parties took part in the 1996 elections - the Democratic Rally - Liberal Party coalition, the New Horizons Party, the Democratic Party, the Movement of Free Democrats (of former President Vassiliou), the Ecologist Movement, the Socialist Party EDEK, the new Left (ADISOK) and the AKEL-Left-New Forces Party.
Spyros Kyprianou was elected House President.
The allocation of seats was as follows:
Party No of Seats
----
Democratic Rally-Liberals 20
AKEL-Left- New Forces 19
Democratic Party 10
EDEK-Socialist Party 5
Free Democrats 2
Others 0
See also
- Electoral calendar
- Electoral system
- Politics of CyprusPolitics of CyprusPolitics of the Republic of Cyprus takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Cyprus is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...
- House of Representatives of CyprusHouse of Representatives of CyprusThe House of Representatives is the parliament of Cyprus. It has 59 members elected for a five year term, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Latin and Armenian minorities...