2003 Northern Cypriot parliamentary election

15 December 2003

50 seats in the Assembly of the Republic 26 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader % Seats +/– CTP Mehmet Ali Talat 35.2 19 +13 UBP Derviş Eroğlu 32.9 18 −6 DP Serdar Denktaş 12.9 7 −6 BDH Mustafa Akıncı 13.1 6 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Derviş Eroğlu UBP Derviş Eroğlu UBP

Politics of Northern Cyprus
Constitution
Executive President Ersin Tatar Prime Minister (list) Ersan Saner List of cabinets of Northern Cyprus
Legislature Assembly of the Republic Speaker Teberrüken Uluçay Political parties
Elections Recent elections Presidential: 2015 2020 Parliamentary: 2018 2022
Administrative divisions First level: Six districts Second level: Twelve sub-districts Third level: Twenty-eight municipalities
Foreign relations United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus Turkish invasion of Cyprus Politics of Cyprus Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Diplomatic missions of / in Northern Cyprus
Other countries

Parliamentary elections were held in Northern Cyprus on 15 December 2003.^[1] Having come fourth in the 1998 elections, the Republican Turkish Party emerged as the largest party in the Assembly of the Republic, winning 19 of the 50 seats.^[1]

Electoral system

Northern Cyprus is divided into five constituencies, electing a total of 50 members of the Assembly by proportional representation.^[1] Voters can cast as many votes in their district as there are seats.^[1]

Results

Aftermath

Under the Turkish Cypriot constitution, the members of the new parliament must gather to be sworn in 10 days after the results are officially published. Soon after this first session, President Rauf Denktaş had to decide whom to ask building a government. As a result he asked Mehmet Ali Talat of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) to form the next government. Talat had 15 days to establish a coalition government. It was hard for him to build a government. The two blocs in the parliament, the "pro Annan plan" bloc and the "status quo" bloc, each had 25 seats in parliament. The National Unity Party refused Talat's offer to build a government together, and as a result the only way to build a government for Talat was to get the Democratic Party (DP) to join his government. After some unsuccessful talks, the DP agreed to build a coalition with the CTP. As a result a coalition relying on a narrow majority of 26 out of 50 seats was built.

References