C ommo nwe a l t h memb e r c o u n t r i e s Government and politics Last elections: 22 May 2011 (parliamentary), 17 and 24 February 2013 (presidential) Next elections: 2016 (parliamentary), 2018 (presidential) Head of state: President Nicos Anastasiades Head of government: The President Ruling party: Democratic Rally Women MPs: 13% In the parliamentary elections in May 2001, the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) took an increased share of 34.7 per cent of votes and 20 seats, but the ruling coalition of the Democratic Rally (34.0 per cent and 19 seats) and the United Democrats (2.6 per cent and one seat) narrowly won the contest. Centre-right Democratic Party (DIKO) secured 14.8 per cent of votes and nine seats, and social democratic KISOS 6.5 per cent and four seats. KISOS was called the Movement for Social Democracy (EDEK) until 1999 and again from 2006. For the first time, 18–21-year-olds were entitled to vote and, since voting is compulsory, there was a high turnout (some 92 per cent) of the 468,000 registered voters. DIKO leader Tassos Papadopoulos won the presidential election in February 2003, with the support of the AKEL and KISOS, receiving 52 per cent of the votes and defeating incumbent President Glafkos Clerides (39 per cent). The parliamentary elections in May 2006 were won by the governing coalition of the AKEL (with 18 seats and 31.1 per cent of the votes), DIKO (11 seats and 17.9 per cent of the votes) and EDEK (five seats and 8.9 per cent of the votes). Democratic Rally gained 18 seats and 30.3 per cent of the votes. In the lead-up to the presidential election of 2008, the DIKO, AKEL and EDEK ruling coalition was unable to reach a consensus on a common candidate and so Papadopoulos was to run for re-election with the support only of the DIKO and EDEK. Communist party AKEL left the coalition and chose its general secretary and House of Representatives President, Demetris Christofias, as its candidate. Ioannis Kasoulidis of the Democratic Rally was the other major candidate. In the presidential election in February 2008 – with turnout of around 90 per cent – the three candidates each received about a third of the votes (Kasoulidis 33.5 per cent; Christofias 33.3 per cent; Papadopoulos 31.8 per cent). No candidate having more than 50 per cent of the votes, Christofias and Kasoulidis went into a second round and the incumbent Papadopoulos was eliminated from the contest. Christofias defeated Kasoulidis by 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent. Christofias immediately invited DIKO and EDEK members to join his cabinet. DIKO leader Tassos Papadopoulos died in December 2008. Formal UN-supported negotiations between the government, led by President Christofias, and the Turkish Cypriots, led by Mehmet Ali Talat, began in September 2008. In June 2009, at the 32nd meeting, the economic agenda was concluded and discussions on territorial issues began. The first round of negotiations was concluded with the 40th meeting in August 2009. A second round of talks, covering economic matters, power sharing, property rights and the EU, was conducted from September 2009 to January 2010. A new round of talks got under way in May 2010, continuing through 2011, with the Turkish Cypriots now led by Dervis Eroglu. The talks were abandoned in 2012. In the May 2011 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Rally secured 20 of the 56 seats contested (34.3 per cent of the vote), AKEL 19 (32.7 per cent), DIKO nine (15.8 per cent), EDEK five (8.9 per cent), European Party two (3.9 per cent) and Green Party one (2.2 per cent), with turnout of 79 per cent. The AKEL and DIKO formed a coalition government. The coalition collapsed in August 2011 following policy disagreements, leaving the AKEL in a minority government. The presidential elections of February 2013 were won by Nicos Anastasiades of the Democratic Rally. He secured 45.5 per cent of the vote in the first round on 17 February, ahead of Stavros Mala of the AKEL (26.9 per cent) and Giorgos Lillikas of the EDEK (24.9 per cent), and went on to take 57.5 per cent in the second-round contest with Mala on 24 February. Local government Association: Union of Cyprus Communities; Union of Cyprus Municipalities Local government is provided for by the Municipalities Law 1985 and the Communities Law 1999, and not by the constitution, although the constitution does refer to five municipalities. In the government-controlled areas there are 24 municipal councils and, covering the rural areas, 355 community councils. Local elections are held every five years. The local authorities in both urban and rural areas have powers to raise revenue from taxes and fees, and they receive transfers from national government for specific developmental projects as well as statutory responsibilities. All the authorities have statutory responsibility for providing certain public services, including public health, water supply and waste disposal, and municipal councils are also responsible for social services and the larger municipal councils for the planning permission process. Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 156 Governance institutions Central Bank of Cyprus: www.centralbank.gov.cy Commissioner of Administration (Ombudsman): www.ombudsman.gov.cy House of Representatives: www.parliament.cy Internal Audit Service: www.internalaudit.gov.cy Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism: www.mcit.gov.cy Ministry of Finance: www.mof.gov.cy Ministry of Justice and Public Order: www.mjpo.gov.cy Office of the President: www.presidency.gov.cy Organisation for Standardisation: www.cys.org.cy Securities and Exchange Commission: www.cysec.gov.cy Supreme Court of Cyprus: www.supremecourt.gov.cy Union of Cyprus Communities: www.ekk.org.cy Union of Cyprus Municipalities: www.ucm.org.cy
CEP template 2012
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