At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Cyprus

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Tassos PAPADOPOULOS *
• Head of Government: President Tassos PAPADOPOULOS
• 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 popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the House of Representatives (Vouli Antiprosopon) 80 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** 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 Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Ioannis KASSOULIDES
  • Party: Democratic Rally (DISY)
• Demetris CHRISTOFIAS
  • Party: Progressive Party of the Working People (Communist Party) (AKEL)

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Tassos PAPADOPOULOS*
  • Party: Democratic Party (DIKO)
• Ioannis KASOULIDES
  • Party: Democratic Rally (DISY)
• Demetris CHRISTOFIAS
  • Party: Progressive Party of the Working People (Communist Party) (AKEL)
• Costas THEMISTOCLEOUS
  • Party: Independent
• Marios MATSAKIS
  • Party: Independent
• Andreas EFSTRATIOU
  • Party: Independent
• Costas KYRIAKOU
  • Party: Outopos
• Anastasis MICHAEL
  • Party: Independent
• Christodoulos NEOFYTOU
  • Party: Independent

* Also has the support of the the Movement of Social Democrats (EDEK) and the European Party (EvroKo).

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,077,010 (2008)
• Registered Voters: 516,448 (February 2008)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 529,003 (2008)

·         Is Cyprus a signatory to CEDAW: No 

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

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 8 (following the 2006 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: 161,551 (est.)