Northern Cyprus parliamentary election, 2013

Northern Cyprus parliamentary election, 2013

28 July 2013

All 50 seats of the Assembly of the Republic 26 seats needed for a majority Turnout 69.6% (12.1 pp)   First party Second party   Leader Özkan Yorgancıoğlu İrsen Küçük Party CTP UBP Leader's seat Lefkoşa Lefkoşa Last election 15 seats, 29.2% 26 seats, 44.1% Seats won 21 14 Seat change 6 12 Popular vote 477,209 339,864 Percentage 38.4% 27.3% Swing 9.2 pp 16.8 pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Serdar Denktaş Mehmet Çakıcı Party DP TDP Leader's seat Lefkoşa Lefkoşa Last election 5 seats, 10.7% 2 seats, 6.9% Seats won 12 3 Seat change 7 1 Popular vote 288,021 92,110 Percentage 23.2% 7.4% Swing 12.5 pp 0.5 pp

Prime Minister before election Sibel Siber (interim) CTP Elected Prime Minister Özkan Yorgancıoğlu CTP

Parliamentary elections were held in Northern Cyprus on 28 July 2013, a year earlier than necessary.^[1] The Republican Turkish Party emerged as the largest in the Assembly of the Republic, winning 21 of the 50 seats.

Background

The government of Prime Minister İrsen Küçük collapsed in May 2013 after eight MPs left his National Unity Party and the government lost a vote of no confidence. On 23 June Sibel Siber became interim prime minister, forming a government consisting of the Republican Turkish Party, the Democratic Party and the Communal Democracy Party. The new government was approved by a vote of 26–11 in the Assembly.^[2]

Electoral system

The fifty members of the Assembly were elected by proportional representation in five multi-member constituencies with an electoral threshold of 5%. Voters could 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.^[3]

Campaign

Five parties with 250 candidates registered to contest the election, as well as seven independents.^[4]

Though election campaigns in Northern Cypriot elections are usually related to the Cyprus dispute, this main focus of the 2013 elections concerns about the National Unity Party's Turkish-backed economic programmes and austerity.^[5]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Republican Turkish Party	477,209	38.38	21	+6
National Unity Party	339,864	27.33	14	–12
Democratic Party	288,021	23.16	12	+7
Communal Democracy Party	92,110	7.41	3	+1
United Cyprus Party	39,127	3.15	0	0
Independents	7,110	0.57	0	0
Total	1,243,441	100	50	0
Valid votes
Invalid/blank votes
Total votes cast	120,287	100
Registered voters/turnout	172,803	69.61
Sources: Adam Carr

References

1. Country Profile IFES
2. Turkish Cypriot caretaker government secures confidence vote Anadolu Agency, 23 June 2013
3. http://www.electionguide.org/election.php?ID=2073
4. Turkish Cypriots vote in parliamentary elections Anadolu Agency, 28 July 2013
5. Austerity not territory defines N Cyprus poll Al Jazeera, 11 August 2013