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Government
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Parliament Composition (May 2006 elections - total 56 seats)
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Democratic Rally (DR) |
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Political System
Republic with a presidential system of government.
Present Constitution adopted on 16 August 1960. In 1963, the Turkish Cypriot leadership, following the rejection of amendments to the Constitution, withdrew from all governmental activities. A constitutional amendment in 1985 changed the number of Members of the House of Representatives from 50 to 80.
Head of State
The Head of State is Dimitris CHRISTOFIAS. He was elected as President at the last elections which took place in February 2008. He succeeded Tassos PAPADOPOULOS, who was the President of the Republic for the last 5 years.
The President is elected for a five-year term, by direct universal suffrage. The executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers, which is appointed by the President of the Republic. According to the 1960 Constitution, the President of the Republic shall be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot, elected by the two communities respectively. The post of Vice-President has been vacant since 1963.
Legislature
Uni-cameral. Under the 1960 Constitution, the House of Representatives had 50 Members, 70% of which were elected by the Greek Cypriot Community and 30% by the Turkish Cypriot Community. The Turkish Cypriot Members of Parliament withdrew from the House in 1963 and their posts remain vacant to this day. Following the amendment to the Constitution in 1985, the number of seats in the House was increased to 80 because of the broadening of activities. Of these, 56 were for Greek Cypriots and 24 for Turkish Cypriots, in order to maintain the constitutional provision regarding the proportion of 70% to 30%. The Members are elected for a term of five years, based on proportional representation.
The Maronite, Armenian and Latin religious groups are also represented in the House, by one Member, each by virtue of relevant legislation.
Government Elections
The most recent parliamentary elections took place on 21 May 2006. The present government is composed by Ministers from the Democratic Party, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party. The next elections are in May 2011. Presidential elections took place on 24 February 2008. It resulted in a change of President to Dimitris CHRISTOFIAS (General Secretary of the Communist party, AKEL), who won with 53.37% of the votes.
Government
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Political System
