THERE will be no opinion polls allowed in the last week before the elections to the House of Representatives on May 27, the House Interior Committee decided unanimously yesterday, bringing Cyprus into line with European Union practices.
In all previous presidential and parliamentary elections, the publication of poll results stopped just three days before voting day.
But in EU countries, the polls are barred between seven and 15 days before the vote.
The move aims to encourage voters to make their own minds up, rather than be swayed by the polls. Deputies are yet to decide whether the publication of results will be banned from Saturday May 19 or from Sunday May 20.
“Public opinion is extremely sensitive a few days before the elections and can change rapidly. Conducting a poll takes days, and by the time it’s finished, poll results are outdated,” said DIKO deputy Stathis Kittis.
Any media owners breaching the new regulations will be fined a minimum of £500 or sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
But some television channels are understood to oppose the House decision and are not willing to along with it.
Committee chairman Nicos Katsourides of AKEL pointed out: “Parties, companies and individuals have the right to run opinion polls anytime they like as long as they don’t issue the results in the last week before the elections.”
To speed up procedures, the Committee suggested that vote counting take place in voting centres instead of ballots being taken to the International Conference Centre in Nicosia for a central count, as happened in previous elections. It’s now up to the Interior Ministry’s Election Service to take the final decision. The service has cited difficulties in implementing the scheme at such short notice.
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.
