North leaders come to coalition understanding

The leaders of the four parties in the north that have been in consultations to form a coalition ‘government’ have come to an understanding, it was reported on Friday.

According to media reports in the north, following almost three weeks of negotiations after the January 7 ‘election’, the leaders of the Democratic Party (DP), Republican Turkish Party (CTP), the People’s Party (HP) and the Communal Democracy Party (TDP), said they have reached a ‘positive outcome’.

The National Unity Party (UBP) took first place in the elections in the north but failed to win a majority. UBP leader and ‘prime minister’ Huseyin Ozgurgun was handed the task of forming a ‘government’ on Wednesday by Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci. He has 15 days to form a coalition and failing that he will have to return the task to Akinci.

CTP and HP and TDP have all ruled out forming a ‘government’ with Ozgurgun’s UBP, while the head of DP Serdar Denktash is thought to be wary of possible cooperation between the UBP and the Rebirth Party (YDP) which is mainly composed of Turkish settlers. He said earlier in the week he was being pressured into forming a three-way coalition with UBP and YDP.

The CTP, the HP, the TDP and the DP, would have in total 26 seats out of 50, just enough to govern.

The head of CTP Tufan Erhuman said on Friday after a meeting with the other three leaders that they have reached a positive result and that they will inform their parties’ collective bodies on the outcome.  The issue, he said, will become clear on Monday evening.

Ozgurgun had criticised the four-way coalition talks saying it went against the will of the people and called it a ‘civillian coup’.

 

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