Elections
Cyprus elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The election of the President is direct, by universal suffrage and secret ballot. Voting is compulsory and every citizen over the age of 18 must vote, by law. The president is elected for a five-year term by the people. The election of a new President takes place before the expiration of the five-year period of office of the outgoing President so as to enable the newly-elected President to be invested on the date that period expires.
Candidates for election must be citizens of the Republic of Cyprus and over 35 years of age. If there is only one candidate for election, he is declared elected.
A candidate to be elected needs more than 50% of the votes validly cast. If none of the candidates attains the required majority the election is repeated on the corresponding day of the following week between the two candidates who received the greater number of votes. The candidate who receives the greatest number of votes at these repeated elections is deemed elected.
If there is a vacancy in the office of Presidential, the vacancy is filled by a by-election taking place within a period not exceeding 45 days of the occurrence of such a vacancy.
In the event of a temporary absence or incapacity of the President to perform his duties, the President of the House of Representatives acts for him.
The House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosópon/Temsilciler Meclisi) has 59 members elected for a five-year term, 56 members by proportional representation and 3 observer members representing the Maronite, Roman-Catholic and Armenian minorities. 24 seats are allocated to the Turkish community. Cyprus has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful.
According to article 62(1) of the Constitution the number of representatives is 50. Out of this number 35 are elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 15 by the Turkish Cypriot Community. The Turkish Cypriot seats remain vacant since 1964 when the Turkish Cypriot representatives withdrew from the House.
However, for the smooth running of the House of Representatives and of the Committees in particular, the House decided in July 1985 by adopting law 124, to increase the seats to 80. Of these 56 (70%) representatives are elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 24 (30%) by the Turkish Cypriot Community, as provided in article 62(2) of the Constitution.
Read more about this topic: Elections In Cyprus
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