my Cyprus, my Κύπρος, my Kıbrıs

Elections in the north explained

Dear friends,

This is a very quick guide to the current elections in the north, with info taken from a couple of different sources which I shall name below.

Most importantly, it is imperative to know how the system works in the north and the significance of these elections for all Cypriots.

Political system:

Unlike the system in the south which is a unitary presidential representative republic, whereby the president is both head of state and head of government, the politics of the north takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state and the prime minister is head of government and of a multi-party system.

The political system can be compared to Greece’s, with one major difference, whoever is elected as president (i.e head of the Turkish Cypriot community) will be representing the community during negotiations on the Cyprus issue.

What happened last Sunday?

Last Sunday, the first round of the elections took place (let us not forget that they were postponed in April due to the corona virus). For many, these elections are essentially a referendum over the future of the Cyprus peace process and the relationship Turkish Cypriots want to have with Ankara.

Not long after the first round, CTP (The Republican Turkish Party) announced its unanimous support for Mustafa Akıncı (incumbent president).

Results of the first round, actual votes and percentages

Candidate in Ballot Order     Votes First Round   % Vote First Round

Ersin Tatar                                       35,872                         32.34
Tufan Erhürman                             24,075                         21.71
Erhan Arıklı                                      5,999                           5.41
Fuat Çiner                                           329                            0.30
Arif Salih Kırdağ                                282                            0.25
Ahmet Boran                                         84                           0.08
Mustafa Ulaş                                         69                            0.06
Alpan Uz                                               155                           0.14
Kudret Özersay                                6,365                           5.74
Mustafa Akıncı                               33,058                          29.80
Serdar Denktaş                                 4,627                            4.17

 

What’s happening tomorrow?

Turkish Cypriots will once again make their way to the polls tomorrow, to vote for either Mustafa Akıncı or Ersin Tartar (current prime minister).

 

Notes

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