Turkish Cypriot coalition govt wins vote of confidence

By Murat Demirci

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

A new four-party coalition government won a vote of confidence in the Turkish Cypriot parliament on Thursday.

The new Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) coalition government won the vote 27-22, as one lawmaker was absent from the 50-seat parliament.

The successful vote follows last week’s coalition government protocol after President Mustafa Akinci passed on the mandate to form a government to Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhurman, who came second in the Jan. 7 election.

For the coalition deal, Erhurman met with People's Party (HP) leader Kudret Ozersay, Communal Democracy Party (TDP) leader Cemal Ozyigit, and Democratic Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktas.

In the Jan. 7 Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus snap election, no party won enough votes to rule single-handedly, but Huseyin Ozgurgun's National Unity Party (UBP) got the most votes, 35.6 percent.

The UBP won 21 seats in parliament, while the CTP got 12 seats with 17 percent of the vote.

In addition, the People's Party (HP) got nine seats, the Communal Democracy Party (TDP) and Democratic Party (DP) three seats each, and the Rebirth Party (YDP) two seats.

Twenty-six out of parliament’s 50 seats are needed to form a coalition.

Since the last general elections of January 2013, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has had three coalition governments under three different prime ministers.

Last November, the Turkish Cypriot parliament passed a motion calling for early elections. Under the motion, general elections originally planned for July 2018 were moved up seven months to Jan. 7.