At stake in this election: 

• 56 seats in the House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosopon)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Demetris CHRISTOFIAS *
• Head of Government: President Demetris CHRISTOFIAS
• Assembly: Cyprus has a unicameral House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosopon) with 80 seats.

* *Note: The 1960 Constitution stipulates that the President (who must be a Greek Cypriot) is elected by the Greek Cypriot community while the Vice President (who must be a Turkish Cypriot) is elected by the Turkish Cypriot community. However, the position of Vice President remains vacant.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• In the House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosopon) 80 members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Seats are divided into 6 multi-member constituencies. 56 seats are assigned to the Greek Cypriots and 24 to Turkish Cypriots, but only those assigned to Greek Cypriots are filled. The seats for the Turkish Cypriots have remained vacant since 1963.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Progressive Party of the Working People / Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού, (AKEL)
  • Leader: Andros KYPRIANOU
  • Seats won in last election: 18
• Party: Democratic Rally / Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός (DISY)
  • Leader: Nikos ANASTASIADHIS
  • Seats won in last election: 18
• Party: Democratic Party / Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα (DIKO)
  • Leader: Marios KAROYIAN
  • Seats won in last election: 11
• Party: Movement of Social-Democrats-Center Union / Κινήμα Σοσιαλδημοκρατών (ΕΔΕΚ)
  • Leader: Yiannakis OMIROU
  • Seats won in last election: 5
• Party: European Party / Evropaiko Komma (EK)
  • Leader: Demetris SYLLOURIS
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Party: Ecologist and Environmentalist Movement-Green Party / Κίνημα Οικολόγων Περιβαλλοντιστών (KEP)
  • Leader: Ioanna PANAYIOTOU
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Party: Other Parties
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,116,644 (2011)
• Registered Voters: 531,463 (April 2011 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 546,367 (2011)

·         Is Cyprus a signatory to CEDAW: No 

·         Has Cyprus ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (23 July 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 6 (following the 2011 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 32 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Cyprus a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Cyprus ratified CRPD: Yes (27 June 2011)

·         Population with a disability: 167,496 (est.)