Electoral threshold raised to 3.6 pct

THE House on Thursday passed a law raising the electoral threshold to 3.6 per cent.

The new regimen will apply as of the May 2016 legislative elections.

The bill, authored by DISY leader Averof Neophytou, breezed through the plenary as it garnered the full backing of main opposition AKEL.

DIKO MP Athina Kyriakidou also voted in favour.

The smaller parties objected to the bill, saying it undermined representative democracy.

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.