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2nd LD Writethru: Right-wing governing party leads in Cyprus parliamentary elections

Xinhua, May 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cyprus'governing right wing Democratic Rally party (DISY) leads with between 29.5 and 32.5 percent in a parliamentary vote on Sunday which was marked by high abstention, according to a state television estimate based on a preliminary exit poll.

Four other exit polls by private television stations confirmed the projected results, giving an even higher share of the vote to DISY.

The chief election officer said abstention reached an unprecedented 32.63 percent, denoting widespread disenchantment with politicians, especially among young people.

Left wing party AKEL seemed to have suffered a setback as a result of its mishandling of the economy when in government between 2008 and 2013.

AKEL's share fell at an estimated 28.5 to 29.5 percent of the vote, relative to 32.6 percent in the previous parliamentary elections in 2011.

Other Cypriot parliamentary parties also seemed to have suffered losses, with center Democratic Party (DIKO) winning between 12 and 14 percent of the vote compared to its 15.76 percent share in 2011.

Socialist EDEK party's share fell to between 5 and 7 percent of the vote compared to its 8.93 percent share in the previous election.

Four other parties won between 4 and 7 percent and will possibly enter parliament with one seat each.

If these results are confirmed by counting which is under way, no one party will gain an absolute majority in the 56-member House of Representatives.

However, this will not affect the stability of President Nicos Anastasiades' government under the country's presidential system of government.

Anastasiades said after casting his vote in his native town of Limassol that after a new parliament to be sworn in early June he will undertake an initiative to strike convergences with opposition parties on crucial issues.

Cyprus has just exited a three-year economic adjustment program following an unprecedented economic crisis which led to a 10-billion-euro (about 11.2 billion U.S. dollars) bailout in early 2013. Endit