At stake in this election:

• 50 seats in the Assembly of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Meclisi)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Derviş EROGLU
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sibel SIBER **
• Assembly: Northern Cyprus has a unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Meclisi) with 50 seats.

** Caretaker Prime Minister appointed after a no-confidence vote May 2013.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is nominated by the president.
• In the Assembly of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Meclisi) 50 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Members are elected from 5 electoral districts. There is a 5 percent threshold for gaining representation. Voters in each district may vote for a party list, or for individual candidates. If they vote for individual candidates, their number of votes cannot exceed the number of seats in the district.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: United Cyprus Party / Birleşik Kıbrıs Partisi (BKP)
  • Leader: İzzet İZCAN
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Republican Turkish Party / Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi Birleşik Güçler (CTP-BG)
  • Leader: Özkan YORGANCIOĞLU
  • Seats won in last election: 15
• Party: Democratic Party / Demokrat Parti Ulusal Güçler (DP-UG)
  • Leader: Serdar DENKTAŞ
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• Party: Communal Democracy Party / Toplumcu Demokrasi Partisi (TDP)
  • Leader: Mehmet ÇAKICI
  • Seats won in last election: 2
• Party: National Unity Party / Ulusal Birlik Partisi (UBP)*****
  • Leader: İrsen KÜÇÜK
  • Seats won in last election: 26

***** Eight members of the UBP have defected to join the DP-UG.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 294,906 (December 2011 Turkish Cypriot administration census)
• Registered Voters: 172,803 (July 2013 )