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Presidential elections were held in Cyprus on 16 February 2003. The election campaign was dominated by the ongoing negotiations over the Annan Plan for Cyprus. Incumbent President Glafkos Klerides was largely in favour of the plan, while leading opposition candidate Tassos Papadopoulos wanted substantial amendments before he would accept it. Papadopoulos in the first round with 52% of the vote. Voter turnout was 91%. [1]
On 3 January 2003 the incumbent President Glafkos Klerides said that he would be standing for re-election in the upcoming presidential election, after previously saying he would not stand again. [2] [3] Klerides, from the Democratic Rally party, had been elected in 1993 and 1998 and called for Cypriots to elect him for a further limited 16 months as president to give him time to try to reach a deal with Turkish Northern Cyprus on reunifying the island. [2] He wanted other candidates to unite behind him and agree to form a national unity government to try to reach a settlement; however, this was not agreed to by his opponents. [2]
Klerides' main opponent was expected to be Tassos Papadopoulos, leader of the Democratic Party. [4] Papadopoulos was seen as being more hardline in negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots and had previously accused Klerides of selling out the interests of Greek Cypriots in negotiations. [5] Papadopoulos was backed by the biggest party in Cyprus, the communist Progressive Party of Working People and had been clear favourite in the election until Klerides announced he would stand again. [4]
Klerides' campaign was hurt by the decision of his close aide and attorney general Alecos Markides to also stand in the election as an independent. [4] [6] Markides was standing as he believed Cyprus needed a younger, more modern, leader than the 83-year-old Klerides. [6] [7] His candidacy however was seen as likely to split the support of centre-right voters and thus assist Papadopoulos in the election. [4]
A further seven candidates stood in the election including one, Costas Kyriacou, calling for free love. [8] [9] [10]
Opinion polls during the campaign showed Papadopoulos with a significant lead over Klerides. [11] The ongoing negotiations over the Annan Plan for Cyprus dominated the campaign with Klerides being seen as more favourable to the plan than many voters and this contributed to the more sceptical Papadopoulos pulling ahead. [12] Papadopoulos called for the Annan plan to be amended and said that Klerides was giving away too much in negotiations. [13] However Papadopoulos emphasized that he would negotiate for a deal if he was elected and ran television adverts which attempted to reduce voter concerns over his previous nationalist stance. [5]
The election campaign was low key with Klerides refusing to campaign for the election. [7] On the day before the election the final polls showed Papadopoulos with a 12% lead over Klerides, with a reasonable chance of winning over 50% of the vote and avoiding the need for a second round. [14]
The results saw Papadopoulos winning over 51% of the vote compared to almost 39% for Klerides, meaning that he was elected in the first round. [15] Markides trailed in third place with 6.6% of the vote, [16] while Kyriakou won 0.44% but claimed that he really won 73%. [9] Voting was compulsory and so voter turnout was high [17] at over 90%.
The leader of Turkish North Cyprus Rauf Denktash described the result as disappointing but Papadopoulos said he would begin talks on the United Nations plan within a few days of the election. [18]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tassos Papadopoulos | Democratic Party | 213,353 | 51.51 | |
| Glafkos Klerides | Democratic Rally | 160,724 | 38.80 | |
| Alecos Markides | Independent | 27,404 | 6.62 | |
| Nicos Koutsou | New Horizons | 8,771 | 2.12 | |
| Costas Kyriacou | Independent | 1,840 | 0.44 | |
| Andreas Efstratiou | Independent | 606 | 0.15 | |
| Adamos Katsantonis | Independent | 558 | 0.13 | |
| Christos Iosifides | Independent | 391 | 0.09 | |
| Georgios Mavrogenis | Independent | 337 | 0.08 | |
| Pantelis Sofokleous | Independent | 209 | 0.05 | |
| Total | 414,193 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 414,193 | 95.95 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 17,497 | 4.05 | ||
| Total votes | 431,690 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 476,758 | 90.55 | ||
| Source: MOI | ||||
The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of the Republic of Turkey are deployed. This dispute is an example of a protracted social conflict. The Cyprus dispute stems from a Turkish military invasion of the island after a coup, and the presence of Turkish soldiers despite a legal reinstatement of a stable government. The desire of some of the ethnic Turkish peoples for the partition of the island of Cyprus through Taksim, and mainland Turkish nationalists settling in as a show of force as a supposed means of protecting their people from what they considered to be the threat of Greek Cypriots, also plays a role in the dispute.
The Progressive Party of Working People is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in Cyprus.
Makarios III was a Greek Cypriot clergyman and politician who served as Archbishop of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and as the first President of Cyprus between 1960 and July 1974, with a second term between December 1974 and 1977.
Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos was a Cypriot politician and barrister, who served as President of Cyprus from 2003 to 2008.
Glafcos Ioannou Clerides was a Cypriot statesman, who served as President of Cyprus in 1974 and from 1993 to 2003.
A referendum on the Annan Plan was held in the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on 24 April 2004. The two communities were asked whether they approved of the fifth revision of the United Nations proposal for reuniting the island, which had been divided since 1974. While it was approved by 65% of Turkish Cypriots, it was rejected by 76% of Greek Cypriots. Turnout for the referendum was high at 89% among Greek Cypriots and 87% among Turkish Cypriots, which was taken as indicative of great interest in the issue on the part of the electorates.
The Annan Plan, also known as the Cyprus reunification plan, was a United Nations proposal to resolve the Cyprus dispute. The different parts of the proposal were based on the argumentation put forward by each party in meetings held under the auspices of the UN. The proposal was to restructure the Republic of Cyprus to become the "United Republic of Cyprus", a federation of two states. It was revised a number of times before it was put to the people of Cyprus in a 2004 referendum, and was supported by 65% of Turkish Cypriots, but only 24% of Greek Cypriots.
The Democratic Rally is a Christian democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Cyprus led by Annita Demetriou. The party was founded on 4 July 1976 by veteran politician Glafcos Clerides. Two leaders of the party have served as presidents of Cyprus, Clerides from 1993 until 2003 and Nicos Anastasiades from 2013 to 2023.
George Vassiliou is a Cypriot politician, who served as President of Cyprus from 1988 to 1993. He was also the President of United Democrats from 1996 to 2005 and Member of the Cypriot House of Representatives from 1996 to 2001. Prior to entering politics, he was a successful businessman.
Polykarpos Giorkatzis was a Greek Cypriot politician. He served as the first Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Cyprus. He also served as provisional minister of Labour in the period leading to Cyprus being proclaimed an independent state. Before entering the political stage he fought for EOKA. His political career evolved from a staunch supporter of Makarios to becoming one of the archbishop's principal political rivals. He was assassinated in 1970.
Ioannis Kasoulides is a Cypriot politician, party member of DISY and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus. He has served in the same position from 1997 until 2003, and again from 2013 to 2018. He was member of the European Parliament from 2004 until 2013. He has held a number of political posts in Cyprus, including member of the House of Representatives of Cyprus from 1991 until 1993, and government spokesman from 1993 until 1997.
At the national level, the Republic of Cyprus holds elections for its head of state, the President of Cyprus, and for its legislature, the House of Representatives.
The Politics of Northern Cyprus takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of the Republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Pancyprian Gymnasium, is the oldest still operational high school in Cyprus, founded in 1812.
Presidential elections were held in Cyprus on 17 February 2008, with a second round on 24 February. The second-round winner, and thus the President of Cyprus for the next term, was Dimitris Christofias.
Parliamentary elections were held in Syria on 7 May 2012 to elect the members of the Syrian People's Council. The elections followed the approval of a new constitution in a referendum on 26 February 2012.
Mustafa Akıncı is a Turkish Cypriot politician who was the president of Northern Cyprus from April 2015 until October 2020.
Parliamentary elections were held in Cyprus on 22 May 2016 to elect 56 of the 80 Members of the House of Representatives.
Events in the year 1976 in Cyprus.
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