Electoral System
The presidency, which is served in five-year terms, was instituted with TRNC's first presidential election in 1985 and continued with the elections of 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005, with the next election scheduled for April 2010. The legislature, Cumhuriyet Meclisi (Assembly of the Republic of Northern Cyprus), has 50 members, elected for a five-year term by mitigated proportional representation. The territory has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and another party which is also electorally successful. Although the voters are described as Turkish Cypriots, the Turkish mainland daily Sabah reported that in the 2009 elections only 38% of those entitled to vote were Turkish Cypriot, while the remaining 62% were Turkish citizens living in TRNC as settlers.
In the presidential election, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the votes in order to secure a first-ballot victory. Upon failing to do so, the two top candidates compete in a runoff election, with the winner assuming the presidency.
The mitigated proportional representation system in use for legislative elections obligates each party to cross the 5% of the total vote election threshold in order to be seated in the 50-member parliament, which is chosen from five electoral districts, Lefkoşa (Nicosia), Gazimağusa (Famagusta), Girne (Kyrenia), Güzelyurt (Morphou) and İskele (Trikomo).
In the parliamentary elections, voters choose individual candidates with two options in the manner of voting: a party-line vote which, in effect, means a vote for each candidate from that party in that election district or, alternatively, the voter may choose different MP candidates from various parties. In this type of mixed voting, the voter may not choose more than the number of MPs from that district.
Residents of northern Cyprus are eligible to stand for election and vote in the national elections of the Republic of Cyprus (The Constitution states that a Turkish-Cypriot should be Vice-President of the Republic), but such adherence to original principles has not been put into practice since the island's division in 1974. However, Turkish-Cypriots living in the Greek areas, do participate in the elections.
Read more about this topic: Elections In Northern Cyprus
Famous quotes related to electoral system:
“Nothing is more unreliable than the populace, nothing more obscure than human intentions, nothing more deceptive than the whole electoral system.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)