Northern Cyprus parliamentary election, 2009

Northern Cyprus parliamentary election, 2009
Northern Cyprus
19 April 2009

All 50 seats of the Assembly of the Republic
26 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 81.4% (Increase12.1 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Derviş Eroğlu Ferdi Sabit Soyer
Party UBP CTP
Leader's seat Gazimağusa Lefkoşa
Last election 19 seats, 31.7% 24 seats, 44.5%
Seats won 26 15
Seat change Increase12 Decrease9
Popular vote 622.804 415.574
Percentage 44.1% 29.2%
Swing Increase12.4 pp Decrease15.3 pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Serdar Denktaş Mehmet Çakıcı
Party DP TDP
Leader's seat Lefkoşa Lefkoşa
Last election 6 seats, 13.5% new party
Seats won 5 2
Seat change Decrease1 new party
Popular vote 150.695 97.334
Percentage 10.7% 6.9%
Swing Decrease2.8 pp new party

Prime Minister before election

Ferdi Sabit Soyer
CTP

Elected Prime Minister

Derviş Eroğlu
UBP

Elections for the Assembly of the Republic were held in Northern Cyprus on 19 April 2009, a year earlier than necessary.[1] The early election was decided upon by the ruling Republican Turkish Party.[2] Winning the largest portion of the vote, the National Unity Party won the election, and the party chairman, Derviş Eroğlu, became Prime Minister.[3]

Election

171,000 Cypriots were eligible to vote to elect 50 MPs. It has been claimed that of these as many as 100,000 were originally Turkish immigrants.[4] The National Unity Party (UBP) won the election with 44% of the vote.[5] The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) received 29% of the vote.[5] The UBP's strong anti-unification position means that the results are likely to halt UN efforts to reunify Cyprus.[6] However, the UBP stated after its election victory that it wanted the talks to continue.[7] The UBP remains opposed to a federalist solution, however, and prefers a two-state solution; while analysts have stated that the UBP is unlikely to directly work against the talks, it might shore up resentment and opposition if the talks drag on too long or if it considers the outcome to be unfavourable.[8]

Results

 Summary of the 19 April 2009 Northern Cyprus parliamentary election results
Parties Votes Vote % Seats +/–
National Unity Party (Ulusal Birlik Partisi) 622.804 44.07% 26 +7
Republican Turkish Party (Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi) 415.574 29.15% 15 –9
Democratic Party (Demokrat Partisi) 150.695 10.65% 5 –1
Communal Democracy Party (Toplumcu Demokrasi Partisi) 97.334 6.87% 2 +1
Freedom and Reform Party (Özgürlük ve Reform Partisi) 87.879 6.20% 2 +2
United Cyprus Party (Birleşik Kıbrıs Partisi) 34.239 2.42%
Politics for the People Party (Halk İçin Siyaset Partisi) 7.091 0.50%
Independents 836 0.14% –3
Totals (turnout 81.42%) 1.416.452 100.00 50
Sources: World Bulletin Zaman

Reactions

Derviş Eroğlu, the UBP chairman and the Prime Minister, stated, "I am proud that Turkey is our main native country. Thanks to our native country we are living calm and safe."[3] In addition, many Turkish Cypriots celebrated the UBP victory.[9] On the other hand, Greek news agency ANA-MPA reported "despair has gripped the Republic of Cyprus" following the release of early election results.[3]

Some analysts say that the new parliament could create difficulties for Mehmet Ali Talat, the peace negotiator for the Turkish Cypriots. With Talat's party gaining slightly fewer seats, "... it is obviously going to limit Talat's ability to act in a lot of ways, you know parliament is going to have a much greater say in all of this and really can tie his hands."[10]

References

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