Assembly of the Republic of Northern Cyprus

The parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Northern Cyprus or North Cyprus , officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus , is a self-declared state that comprises the northeastern part of the island of Cyprus...

, the Assembly of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Meclisi) has 50 members, elected for a five year term by mitigated proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

. A party must cross the election threshold

Election threshold

In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...

 (5% of the total vote) to get any seats in parliament. The TRNC parliament is composed of 50 MPs, chosen from five electoral districts, Nicosia

Nicosia

Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

, Famagusta

Famagusta

Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.-Name:...

, Kyrenia

Kyrenia

Kyrenia is a town on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. Internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Cyprus, Kyrenia has been under Turkish control since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974...

, Guzelyurt and Iskele.

In TRNC parliamentary elections, voters vote for individual candidates. There are two ways of voting.

• Voters can either vote for a party, which in effect is voting for every MP candidate from that party in that elections district once. The voter can further prioritize the MPs in this kind of voting.
• Or alternatively the voter may not choose a party but would vote for different MP candidates from different parties. In this kind of mixed voting, a person can not choose more than the number of MPs from that district.

2009 Parliamentary elections

The latest parliamentary elections in TRNC were held on April 18, 2009 as early elections.