IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Cyprus

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Legislative
2016

Cyprus
Republic of Cyprus
Region: Europe

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Nikos ANASTASIADES *
Head of Government: President Nikos ANASTASIADES
Assembly: Cyprus has a unicameral House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosopon) with 80 seats.

* *Note: The 1960 Constitution stipulates that the President (who must be a Greek Cypriot) is elected by the Greek Cypriot community while the Vice President (who must be a Turkish Cypriot) is elected by the Turkish Cypriot community. However, the position of Vice President remains vacant.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
In the House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosopon) 80 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Seats are divided into 6 multi-member constituencies. 56 seats are assigned to the Greek Cypriots and 24 to Turkish Cypriots, but only those assigned to Greek Cypriots are filled. The seats for the Turkish Cypriots have remained vacant since 1963.