This piece was first published on policypress.cy.
The Turkish Cypriot ‘assembly’ has fixed 6 December for combined general and local elections, the first to be held under a contested new voting system, leaving under two months to prepare two simultaneous ballots.
Turkish Cypriots will vote in combined general and local elections on 6 December, after the ‘assembly’ formally set the date on Thursday night, confirming a snap poll that will be the first held under a voting system overhauled only weeks earlier.
What was decided
The ‘assembly’ approved holding the general election for its members on Sunday, 6 December, the same day as local elections, completing the ‘parliamentary’ stage of a process the ‘government’ had pressed for. The decision to hold the two votes together on that date was reported as approved unanimously, while the related decision to renew the ‘assembly’ before its term ends, taken under Article 88 of the ‘constitution’, passed by majority. The ‘prime minister’, Ünal Üstel, had argued for holding both votes together to spare the ‘country’ a prolonged election period and to send voters to the polls only once, and said campaign restrictions would begin 60 days before polling day which are already in effect.
The new voting system
The general election will be the first under an amended system that abolishes mixed voting. Under the old arrangement, electors could spread their preferences across candidates from different party lists on a single ballot. They will still be able to choose between candidates, but only within one party’s list. The change was first passed on 10 September, returned by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhürman, for reconsideration on 17 September, and then re-passed by 28 votes to 10 on 29 September, over his objection. The governing parties and the Rebirth Party (YDP) voted for it, the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) voted against. It was published in the ‘Official Gazette’ on 1 October and took effect on publication, and applies to both the general and the local elections.
Why the vote is early
The election follows the collapse of the government’s majority after the Filo Jet ferry disaster on 30 August. The ‘public works and transport minister’, Erhan Arıklı, was dismissed over the incident, and his party, the YDP, then left the governing coalition of the National Unity Party (UBP), the Democratic Party (DP) and the YDP, leaving it without a majority in the 50-seat ‘assembly’. Üstel has framed the early, combined vote as a way to restore stability “rather than leave the country in prolonged uncertainty”.
The objections
Opposition parties objected to changing the voting method so close to a snap election. The CTP leader, Sıla Usar İncirli, argued that an electoral system should not be altered months before a vote and without broad agreement, while the CTP’s Erkut Şahali accused the ‘government’ of political opportunism for pressing the change while the ‘country’ was still mourning the catastrophe. The CTP’s Ongun Talat warned that the new system would hand the selection of candidates to party structures rather than to members. Erhürman’s decision to return the ‘law’ for reconsideration reflected concerns over electoral precedent and public confidence. Üstel rejected the charge that the change had been rushed, noting that the proposal first came before the ‘assembly’ in 2023.
The practical challenge
Fixing the date leaves the ‘authorities’ with under two months to organise two concurrent ballots under rules finalised only weeks ago. That poses a set of practical questions now facing the ‘High Electoral Council’, how the two ballots will be designed and counted, whether there are enough staff and premises to run both votes at once, how spoiled or invalid ballots will be recorded under the new system, and what voter education will be in place so that electors understand the change before polling day.
The 2022 baseline
At the last election, in January 2022, the UBP finished first, taking 24 of the 50 seats, ahead of the CTP on 18, with the DP, the People’s Party (HP) and the YDP winning 3, 3, and 2 respectively. Those are the numbers the new system and the December campaign will be measured against, though the ‘assembly’s’ make-up has shifted since, most recently with the YDP’s departure from government.
