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Cyprus GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Form of Government: Elected president for
five-year term,
appointed Council of Ministers, elected House of
Representatives of
fifty-six members for five-year term. Constitutional
provision of
Turkish Cypriot vice president, three members of Council
of
Ministers, and twenty-four members of House of
Representatives in
disuse for decades.
[Turkish Cypriots nonparticipants in governance of
Republic of
Cyprus. State resulting from unilateral declaration of
independence
in 1985, "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," recognized
only by
Turkey. Elected president for five-year term, appointed
Council of
Ministers, elected Legislative Assembly of fifty members
for fiveyear term.]
Legal System: Supreme Court final appellate
court;
district and assize courts with civil and criminal
jurisdictions.
Supreme Council of Judicature--composed of attorney
general,
members of the Supreme Court, and others--deals with
appointment
and promotion of judges.
[Turkish Cypriots employ a parallel system, with
additional
special courts for family matters.]
Politics: Resolving intercommunal crisis major
political
issue. Four political parties represented in House of
Representatives accounted for over 95 percent of vote;
several
right- and left-wing splinter parties accounted for the
remainder.
Moderate conservative Democratic Rally (DISY), founded by
Glafkos
Clerides in 1976, won 35.8 percent of vote and twenty
seats in 1991
parliamentary election. Democratic Party (DIKO), founded
by Spyros
Kyprianou in 1976, won 19.5 percent of vote and eleven
parliamentary seats in 1991 election. Long a government
party, DIKO
was center right and close to Archbishop Makarios III. The
socialdemocratic United Democratic Union of the Center (EDEK)
founded in
1969 by Vassos Lyssarides, still its leader in 1992. EDEK
won 10.9
percent of the vote and seven seats in 1991 elections. The
Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) dates from
1941, but
with historical ties to communist movement of 1920s.
Although long
doctrinaire and subservient to the former Soviet Union,
AKEL
moderate left wing in practice. In 1991, elections won
30.6 percent
of vote and eighteen seats. Flexible on intercommunal
problem, it
often allied with DISY on this issue. EDEK and DIKO
frequently
advocated a more traditional approach to end the island's
division.
[Three main Turkish Cypriot parties and a smaller
right-wing
party offered voters range of choices. For the 1990
Legislative
Assembly election, unsuccessful electoral alliance against
governing party, the conservative National Unity Party
(UBP). The
UBP won 55 percent of the vote and thirty-four seats in
parliament.
Founded in 1975 by Rauf Denktas, this perennial governing
party led
in early 1990s by Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu. Rightist
New Dawn
Party (YDP) formed in 1984 to represent Turkish settlers.
Won two
seats in 1990, which it subsequently occupied. Moderate
Communal
Liberation Party (TKP) often opposed UBP policies, urging
greater
contacts with Greek Cypriots. Founded in 1976, by Alpay
Durduran,
it led in early 1990s by Mustafa Akinci. Some of the party
boycotted the Legislative Assembly after the 1990
elections,
refusing to take all of its five seats. Left-wing labor
Republican
Turkish Party (CTP) dated from 1970. Led by Özker Özgür,
it won
seven seats in 1990, but like TKP boycotted parliament.]
International Memberships: United Nations and its
affiliated organizations; World Bank; International
Monetary Fund;
Commonwealth of Nations; Council of Europe; Conference on
Security
and Cooperation in Europe; associate membership in
European
Community.
["Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" an observer at
the
Organization of the Islamic Conference.]
Data as of January 1991
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