Elections in Northern Cyprus

Elections in Northern Cyprus are organized to elect governments, presidents and representatives of local administrative bodies in Northern Cyprus, known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Northern Cyprus

Electoral system

The presidency, which is served in five-year terms, was instituted with TRNC's first presidential election in 1985 and continued with the elections of 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005,2010 with the next election scheduled for April 2015. The legislature, Cumhuriyet Meclisi (Assembly of the Republic of Northern Cyprus), has 50 members, elected for a five-year term by mitigated proportional representation. The territory has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and another party which is also electorally successful.

In the presidential election, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the votes in order to secure a first-ballot victory. Upon failing to do so, the two top candidates compete in a runoff election, with the winner assuming the presidency.

The mitigated proportional representation system in use for legislative elections obligates each party to cross the 5% of the total vote election threshold in order to be seated in the 50-member parliament, which is chosen from five districts: Lefkoşa, Gazimağusa, Girne, Güzelyurt and İskele.

In the parliamentary elections, voters choose individual candidates with two options in the manner of voting: a party-line vote which, in effect, means a vote for each candidate from that party in that election district or, alternatively, the voter may choose different MP candidates from various parties. In this type of mixed voting, the voter may not choose more than the number of MPs from that district.

Residents of Northern Cyprus are eligible to stand for election and vote in the national elections of the Republic of Cyprus, but not able to run for presidency[1] (the Constitution states that a Turkish-Cypriot should be Vice-President of the Republic). Turkish Cypriot communal representation in the Republic of Cyprus government de facto ended in 1963. Until 2004, the case of Ibrahim Aziz in the European Court of Human Rights, Turkish Cypriots could not vote in the Republic of Cyprus.[2][3]

Latest elections

2015 Northern Cypriot presidential election
Main article: 2015 Northern Cypriot presidential election
Candidate Party First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Mustafa AkıncıIndependent29,03026.9467,03560.50
Derviş EroğluIndependent30,32828.1543,76439.50
Sibel SiberRepublican Turkish Party24,27122.53
Kudret ÖzersayIndependent22,89521.25
Arif Salih KırdağIndependent5300.49
Mustafa OnurerCyprus Socialist Party4280.40
Mustafa UlaşIndependent2590.24
Invalid/blank votes2,562–2,679–
Total110,303100110,799100
Registered voters/turnout176,91662.35176,98064.12
Source: High Election Committee - first round, run-off

2018 Northern Cypriot parliamentary election
Main article: 2018 Northern Cypriot parliamentary election
Party Votes % Seats +/–
National Unity Party1,907,03035.5821+7
Republican Turkish Party1,121,47820.9212–9
People's Party915,66617.089New
Communal Democracy Party463,0818.643+1
Democratic Party420,1027.843–9
Rebirth Party375,1137.002New
Alliance for Change and Liberation (TKP-YG+BKP)143,6452.6800
Nationalist Democracy Party7,0830.130New
Independents6,9510.1300
Total5,360,149 100500
Valid votes
Invalid/blank votes
Total votes cast126,196100
Registered voters/turnout190,55166.23
Sources: BRTK Kıbrıs

Note: Each voter may cast multiple votes, one for each seat in the parliament. Hence, the vote totals of some parties exceed the number of registered voters.

By district
District UBPCTPHPTDPDPYDPTKP-YGMDPIND
Gazimağusa37.220.716.55.87.98.53.20.20.1
Girne35.621.118.19.37.06.81.80.20.1
Güzelyurt35.720.715.68.710.15.73.20.20.1
İskele38.517.114.75.47.612.73.70.20.1
Lefkoşa33.522.218.611.17.34.72.30.20.2
Lefke32.823.413.411.111.93.73.40.10.1
Source: Yeniduzen

Presidential elections
Date:Candidates:Party Affiliation:% Vote:Notes:
15 April 2000
 Mustafa Akıncı
Mehmet A. Talat
Arif Hasan T. Desem
Derviş Eroğlu
Ayhan Kaymak
Rauf R. Denktas
Sener Levent
Turgut Afsaroglu		 TKP
CTP
YBH
UBP
Independent
Independent
Independent
Independent		 %11.70
%10.03
%2.60
%30.14
%0.38
%43.67
%0.92
%0.56		 1- Number of registered voters: 126675
2-Participation Rate: %81.02
3-Derviş Eroğlu and Rauf R. Denktas was to run for the second round, but Derviş Eroğlu had forfeited so the second round did not take place
15 Feb 1995


1- 1st round of 1995presidential elections.
22 April 1995


1- 2nd round of 1995 presidential elections.
22 April 1990


1- 1st round of 1990 presidential elections.
9 June 1985


1- 1st round of 1985 presidential elections.
28 June 1981


1- 1st round of 1981 presidential elections.

Parliamentary elections
Date:Parties:% Votes:Seats:+/-Notes:
20 Feb 2005
 CTP - Cumhuriyetçi Turk Partisi
UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
DP - Demokrat Parti
BDH - Baris ve Demokrasi Hareketi
TKP - Toplumcu Kurtuluş Partisi
YP - New Party
MAP - Milli Adalet Partisi		 %44.5
%31.7
%13.5
%5.8
%2.4
%1.6
%0.5		 24
19
6
1
-
-
-		 +5
+1
-1
-5
-
-
-		 1- (+/-) - Difference in seats from 2003 election.
14 Dec 2003
 CTP - Cumhuriyetçi Turk Partisi
UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
BDH - Baris ve Demokrasi Hareketi
DP - Demokrat Parti		 % 35.18
% 32.93
% 13.14%
%12.93		 19
18
6
7		 1- TKP entered the elections under the list of BDH.
6 Dec 1998
 UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
DP - Demokrat Parti
TKP - Toplumcu Kurtuluş Partisi
CTP - Cumhuriyetçi Turk Partisi
Others
 %40.4
%22.6
%15.4
%13.4
% 8.2
 24
13
7
6
-
 1- Others includes UDP, BP, YBH
12 Dec 1993
 UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
DP - Demokrat Parti
CTP - Cumhuriyetçi Turk Partisi
TKP - Toplumcu Kurtuluş Partisi
Others (YKP, MMP, BEP)
%29.8
%29.2
%24.2
%13.3
% 3.5
 17
15
13
5
-
 1-Early General Elections
2- Others include YKP, MMP, BEP
13 Oct 1991
 UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
Free Democratic Party (HDP)
Others (YKP)
%67.1
%13.9
%19
 11
1
-
 1- Interim elections done to fill the seats of 12 MPs who had resigned.
2- CTP and TKP boycotted the election.
3-Others include SDP, MAP, BEP, YDP
6 May 1990 UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
Democratic Struggle Party (DMP)
Others (YKP)
%54.7
%44.5
%0.8
 34
16
-
 1- DMP is an election alliance party for CTP, TKP, YDP.
23 Jun 1985
 UBP - Ulusal Birlik Partisi
CTP - Cumhuriyetçi Turk Partisi
TKP - Toplumcu Kurtuluş Partisi
YDP - Yeni Dogus Partisi (YDP)
Others
 %36.7
%21.4
%15.8
%8.8
%17.3		 24
12
10
4
-
 Others include TAP, SDP, DHP

In 2009 President Mehmet Ali Talat claimed that in 1990 and 1998 Turkish government officials along with other influential powers from Turkey interfered with the Parliamentary Elections.[4]

References
  1. Nicos Trimikliniotis, Corina Demetriou. Evaluating the Anti-Discrimination Law in the Republic of Cyprus: A Critical Reflection (Peace Research Institute) Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  2. Aziz v. Cyprus Archived 18 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, European Court of Human Rights, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  3. Turkish Cypriots - Parliamentary Elections, Cyprus News Agency, Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  4. "Talat: 1990, 1998 KKTC elections were interfered with". Today's Zaman. 18 April 2009.
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