THE TURKISH Cypriot coalition ‘government’ led by ‘prime minister’ Mehmet Ali Talat resigned yesterday after failing to recruit additional deputies needed to bolster its minority coalition.
Talat’s administration – which includes Serdar Denktash’s Democratic Party (DP) as a junior partner – lost its parliamentary majority in April after three deputies left the group.
“We wanted to form a majority government, but we could not succeed,” Talat told a news conference shortly after handing his resignation to Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
Talat hinted, however, that he was keen to see early elections in the north, believing it to be the only way in which to solidify his grip on the assembly.
“We’ve often said this minority government would not bring stability, and neither would any of the other possible coalition formulae,” he told reporters. He added that stable government was essential if efforts to end the economic and political isolation of the north were to bear fruit.
Talat will remain ‘prime minister’ until a new administration can be formulated from among existing deputies or fresh elections take place.
“We will continue working as if we haven’t resigned,” he said, citing ongoing efforts to secure the fulfilment of commitments by the EU on aid and direct trade as the main reason for doing so.
According to the north’s constitution, the ‘president’ is expected to hand the mandate to form a ‘government’ to the party with the largest representation in ‘parliament’. With 19 seats, Dervis Eroglu’s National Unity Party (UBP) will be the first to receive the mandate. Talat’s party has 18.
The UBP will then have 15 days in which to try and form a ‘government’.
Speaking to journalists at the assembly in northern Nicosia yesterday, Eroglu insisted he would not propose the formation of a new administration. However, the party’s Nicosia deputy Tahsin Ertugruloglu said the UBP would “definitely” seek to use the mandate.
“It’s not a must but, we should try,” he said.
In theory at least, the UBP could muster the necessary 26 seats. However, it is widely believed that the formation of such a coalition would be unpopular with the Turkish Cypriots who overwhelmingly supported the Annan plan in last April’s referendum.
A return to UBP rule would also be unpopular in Europe and possibly also with the current pro-solution government in Turkey.
Furthermore, the UBP would require the support of the DP if it were to form a ‘government’.
Denktash hinted yesterday he was unlikely to join the UBP in forming a new ‘government’ by saying the CTP-DP alliance had been the “most workable coalition” since the start of a run of coalition administrations in 1994.
However, in later statements to the Cyprus Mail Denktash said, “I’m ruling out nothing. We will consider all the possibilities and then decide what to do.”
If attempts to form a ‘government’ fail, an election will take place in early January – 60 days after all attempts at new coalitions have been abandoned.
