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History of Politics in Cyprus

After Cyprus achieved independence from British rule in 1960, the Cypriot Constitution was drafted and established a presidential system of government with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch, as well as a weighted power-sharing system in order to assuage the concerns of the minority Turkish Cypriot population. The first president, Archbishop Makarios III, was a Greek Cypriot, while his vice president was a Turkish Cypriot by the name of Dr. Fazil Kucuk.

After a military junta in Greece, the Greek colonels eventually decided to sponsor a coup in Nicosia in 1974 due to dissatisfaction with the Greek Cypriot Prime Minister. Turkey then responded with a military operation in Cyprus, illegally capturing the North, moving in citizens from mainland Turkey, and establishing the unrecognized independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which adopted its own constitution and de facto leadership in 1985.

Executive Politics in Cyprus

The current President of Cyprus is Nicos Anastasiades, a member of the Democratic Rally party who has been in power since February 28, 2013.

Legislative Branch in Cyprus

The House of Representatives, known in Greek as the ‘Vouli Antiprosopon' and in Turkish as ‘Temsilciler Meclisi' has 59 members, each elected for a 5 year term. 56 of the members are chosen by proportional representation and the rest are observer members representing the Armenian, Roman Catholic, and Maronite minorities of the country. The legislature is made of 6 parties, only 3 of which got more than 15% of the vote each.

Though the Cypriot constitution established power sharing in the legislative branch, the 24 seats designated for the Turkish community are currently empty thanks to the informal division of Cyprus after 1974.

Judiciary in Cyprus

The judiciary is independent of the other two branches, and is made up of a Supreme Court with District Courts beneath it.

3 judges appointed by the Cypriot President serve on the Supreme Court, and 72 other judges appointed by the Supreme Court serve on the District Courts.

Current Political Division in Cyprus

Though northern Cyprus is not recognized by any international governing body, they have their own de facto leadership under Mustafa Akinci, the Turkish Cypriot head of the Communal Democracy Party who was elected on April 30, 2015.

Politics of Nicosia

As the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia is the political seat for the country, and all main government buildings and headquarters are within the Municipality of Nicosia as mandated by the Cypriot constitution. The city has also been divided into a southern Greek Cypriot section and a northern Turkish Cypriot section. The mayor of the official (Greek) Cypriot Nicosia is Constantinos Yiorkadjis, while the mayor of the Turkish section is Mehmet Harmanci.

The greater metropolitan area of Nicosia is not overseen by one authority, but many responsibilities and functions in the area fall to the Nicosia District administration. There are 29 administrative units (or neighborhoods) within the city limits.

Nicosia Municipality City Hall
Eleftheria Square P.O. Box 21015
Tel: +(357) 22797000
E-mail: Municipality@nicosiamunicipality.org.cy