Ruling UBP triumphs in Turkish Cypriot local polls

LOCAL ELECTIONS held in the occupied areas on Sunday resulted in an overwhelming victory for the ruling National Unity Party, which won 18 out of the 28 ‘municipalities’.

The Republican Turkish Party won four, the Democratic Party two, and the Communal Liberation Party also two. In addition, there was one independent winner.

According to the Turkish Press reports, ‘Prime Minister Dervis Eroglu, leader of the National Unity Party, hailed the result as a great victory for his party.

According to the reports, 118,833 voters went to the polls on Sunday. Up for election were 28 ‘mayors’, 214 Council Members, 199 Mukhtars and 780 Village Elders. Voting began on Sunday at 8am and finished at 6pm.

In spite of a Saturday ban on campaigning, many Turkish Cypriot newspapers published stories designed either to discredit or promote particular parties.

Yeni Demokrat, the Democratic Party mouthpiece, carried pictures of piles of effluent on the streets of occupied Nicosia, with the headline “The Capital Expects Change”, tying in with the “Change” slogan of the Democratic Party.

National Unity Party mouthpiece Birlik, meanwhile, announced that several people were suing the ‘mayors’ of Kyrenia and Famagusta, both opposing party members, for endangering their lives with unhealthy drinking water and polluted seas.

The election results were announced in the occupied areas yesterday, and not on Sunday night as expected, due to a computer system collapse at the Near East University monitoring station.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.