Turkish Cypriot coalition gov’t wins vote of confidence
NICOSIA – Anadolu Agency
A new four-party coalition government won a vote of confidence in the Turkish Cypriot parliament on Feb. 15.
The new Turkish Cypriot coalition government won the vote 27-22, as one lawmaker was absent from the 50-seat parliament.
The successful vote follows last week’s coalition government protocol after President Mustafa Akıncı passed on the mandate to form a government to Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhurman, who came second in the Jan. 7 election.
For the coalition deal, Erhurman met with People’s Party (HP) leader Kudret Özersay, Communal Democracy Party (TDP) leader Cemal Özyiğit, and Democratic Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktaş.
In the Jan. 7 Turkish Cypriot snap election, no party won enough votes to rule singlehandedly, but Hüseyin Özgürgün’s National Unity Party (UBP) got the most votes, 35.6 percent.
The UBP won 21 seats in parliament, while the CTP got 12 seats with 17 percent of the vote.
In addition, the People’s Party (HP) got nine seats, the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) and Democratic Party (DP) three seats each, and the Rebirth Party (YDP) two seats.
Twenty-six out of the parliament’s 50 seats are needed to form a coalition.
Since the last general elections of January 2013, Turkish Cyprus has had three coalition governments under three different prime ministers.
Last November, the Turkish Cypriot parliament passed a motion calling for early elections. Under the motion, general elections originally planned for July 2018 were moved up seven months to Jan. 7.
