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Cyprus News Agency: News in English (AM), 01-05-26
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[01] Cyprus - Parliamentary Elections
1240:CYPPRESS:01
[01] Cyprus - Parliamentary Elections
Nicosia, May 26 (CNA) -- Cypriots go to the polls tomorrow to elect 56
members of parliament for the new House of Representatives, the eighth
since the establishment of the Republic in 1960, to serve until September
2006.
Voting is compulsory by law for the 467.182 registered voters, over the age
of 18, including Greek Cypriot refugees, enclaved people who live in the
northern Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, and members of the three
religious groups of Latins, Maronites and Armenians, who belong to the
Greek Cypriot community.
According to the 1960 Constitution, the Greek Cypriot community, comprising
Greek Cypriots, Latins, Armenians and Maronites, elects its own
representatives to the House and the Turkish Cypriot community its own
deputies.
The Turkish Cypriots withdrew unilaterally from parliament in 1964 as part
of their rebellion against the government.
Refugees will elect their representatives for the district they come from
and not for their temporary place of residence.
Elected representatives of the religious groups have the right to attend
House sessions but no right to vote. The representative of the Latin
religious group to the new House, Benito Mantonivani, was elected
unopposed. The Maronites and the Armenians will elect their respective
representatives on Sunday. The former have four candidates to choose from
and the latter two.
All members of the three religious groups, which opted to belong to the
Greek Cypriot community, will vote for the election of the 56 Greek Cypriot
deputies.
Greek Cypriot enclaved will be able to vote in five special polling
stations, two in Nicosia and one in each of the following district offices
Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos.
Nicosia district, with 172.755 registered voters, will elect 21 deputies,
Limassol with 96.082 voters will elect 12, Famagusta with 93.111 will have
11, Larnaca with 45.130 voters is allocated five parliamentarians, Paphos
district with 35.488 voters will elect four deputies and Kyrenia with
24.616 voters will have three.
There are 454 parliamentary hopefuls, 86 of whom are women. Eight parties,
five of them currently in parliament, and six independent candidates are
contesting the election.
Successful candidates will have to obtain 1,8 per cent of the valid votes
in the first distribution of seats throughout the government controlled
areas of the Republic. First results are set to be announced in the early
hours of Monday, 28th May.
Results for the second distribution of seats are expected to be announced
at noon or early afternoon on Monday 28th May.
There will be 1.131 polling stations tomorrow, 300 more than the previous
parliamentary elections in 1996.
Voting will start at seven in the morning and continue until five in the
afternoon, with an hour break at noon (Cyprus is three hours ahead of GMT).
An extension to this deadline can be given at the discretion of the
official presiding at each polling station.
Ballot papers for the six districts will be in different colours to avoid
confusion.
Ballot boxes will be transferred to regional centres where the counting of
votes will begin at six in the evening.
Exit polls are allowed to be conducted tomorrow but no result is to be
announced until after polling is over.
Since the division of the island, as a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion
and continuing occupation, parliamentary, presidential and local elections
are held in the southern government controlled areas of the Republic. The
internationally recognised government of Cyprus is prevented from
exercising its jurisdiction in the northern part of the country by the
Turkish occupation troops and the Turkish Cypriot puppet regime set up in
the occupied part of Cyprus.
CNA TT/MM/RM/2001
ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY
CNA ENDS
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