Next Northern Cyprus parliamentary election

Northern Cyprus parliamentary election, 2013

2017 or 2018

All 50 seats of the Assembly of the Republic 26 seats needed for a majority   Leader Mehmet Ali Talat Hüseyin Özgürgün Party CTP UBP Leader's seat Lefkoşa Lefkoşa Last election 21 seats, 38.4% 14 seats, 27.3% Current seats 20 18   Leader Serdar Denktaş Cemal Özyiğit Party DP TDP Leader's seat Lefkoşa Lefkoşa Last election 12 seats, 23.2% 3 seats, 7.4% Current seats 5 3

Incumbent Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün UBP

The next Northern Cypriot parliamentary election is scheduled for 2017 or 2018, and will elect the 50 members of the Assembly of the Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) for another five-year term.^[1]

The last election was held on 28 July 2013, and resulted in a victory for Özkan Yorgancıoğlu, after his Republican Turkish Party secured 38% of the vote and 21 seats.^[2] Their rivals in the National Unity Party fell to 27% of the vote and 14 seats. Two other parties – the Democratic Party and the Communal Democracy Party – managed to enter parliament with 23% and 7% of the vote respectively. Due to a 5% election threshold, the United Cyprus Party failed to win any seats, having won only 3% of the vote.^[3]

The current Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus is Hüseyin Özgürgün, who has served since 16 April 2016, and leads a coalition consisting of the National Unity Party and the Democratic Party.^[4]

Electoral system

The fifty members of the Assembly are elected by proportional representation in five multi-member constituencies with an electoral threshold of 5%. Voters can either vote for a party list or for individual candidates. If they chose the latter, they could cast as many votes as there were seats in a constituency.^[5]

Background

2013 parliamentary elections

The 2013 parliamentary elections in Northern Cyprus resulted in the election of Özkan Yorgancıoğlu of the center-left Republican Turkish Party (CTP) as Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus. His party formed a coalition with the right-leaning Democratic Party (DP), led by Serdar Denktaş. Meanwhile, the nationalist National Unity Party (UBP) became the main opposition party.

2015 presidential elections

The 2015 presidential elections were held on 19 April, with a runoff the following week, on 26 April. In the first round of voting, the incumbent, UBP-backed President Derviş Eroğlu received 30,328 votes, or slightly above 28% of the total. Mustafa Akıncı, a former MP for the Communal Democracy Party (TDP), came in second with 27%, while Sibel Siber of the CTP and the independent candidate Kudret Özersay won 22.5% and 21% respectively. As a result, Eroğlu and Akıncı proceeded to a second round of voting on 26 April. Ultimately, Akıncı secured a landslide victory, securing 60.5% of the vote against 39.5% for Eroğlu. Akıncı was formally inaugurated as the fourth President of Northern Cyprus on 30 April 2015.

In part due to the poor performance of the CTP in the presidential race, Mehmet Ali Talat challenged Prime Minister Yorgancıoğlu for the party leadership. In the event, Talat defeated the prime minister, triggering the latter's resignation. Since only MPs may serve in the Cabinet of Northern Cyprus, Talat did not become prime minister; the position ultimately went to Ömer Kalyoncu, who was sworn in on 16 July 2015.^[6] Kalyoncu formed a grand coalition consisting of CTP and UBP, as opposed to the former CTP–DP constellation. His administration was short-lived, however; Hüseyin Özgürgün managed to establish a right-wing coalition on 16 April 2016, consisting of UBD and the Democratic Party of Serdar Denktaş, the son of TRNC's pater patriae, Rauf Denktaş.^[4][7]

Participating parties

Party		Ideology	Leader
	Republican Turkish Party (CTP)	Social democracy, Pro-reunification	Mehmet Ali Talat
	National Unity Party (UBP)	Turkish nationalism, Conservatism	Hüseyin Özgürgün
	Democratic Party (DP)	Turkish nationalism, Conservatism	Serdar Denktaş
	Communal Democracy Party (TDP)	Social democracy, Pro-reunification	Cemal Özyiğit

References

1. Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe". parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
2. Umut Uras. "Austerity not territory defines N Cyprus poll - Al Jazeera English". aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
3. Lansford, T. (2014). Political Handbook of the World 2014. SAGE Publications. p. 371. ISBN 9781483386263. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
4. "Özgürgün starts duty as new PM of Turkish Cyprus - EUROPE". hurriyetdailynews.com. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
5. "IFES Election Guide | Elections: Northern Cyprus Parl 2013". electionguide.org. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
6. "Turkish Cypriot government quits". en.trend.az. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
7. "Turkish Cypriot president approves new government". aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2016-09-11.