Roundup: Right-wing governing party wins Cypriot parliamentary elections

Cyprus's governing right wing Democratic Rally party (DISY) won a parliamentary election on Sunday but lost electoral support of at least two seats in the House of Representatives.

The election was marked by high abstention and a high proportion of protest votes which went from large parties to smaller protest groups, according to a state television analyst.

Among these groups is far-right ELAM party, closely associated with Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party, which is likely to enter parliament for the first time by winning two seats.

DISY polled 30.7 percent, losing 3.5 percentage points of its 34.2 per cent vote share in the 2011 elections and two of its 20 parliamentary seats.

Left wing AKEL party also lost a large proportion of its supporters but its damage was the result of high abstention rather than by the movement of supporters to other parties.

AKEL lost 7.0 percentage points of its support, polling 25.7 percent, down from 32.6 percent in 2011. It also projected to lose at least three of its 19 seats after the allocation of parliamentary seats.

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

AKEL party leader Andros Kyprianou acknowledged that the electoral result was an unexpected setback, adding that it will be analyzed by party officials.

Analysts said that AKEL party paid the price for mishandling the economy when in government between 2008 and 2013.

An expansion of government spending, large budget deficits and a deep recession forced the AKEL government to seek bailout in mid-2012.

But it stalled in the negotiations with international lenders and left the task of concluding the deal and applying a harsh austerity economic program to its successor DISY government.

Electoral analysts said that a section of DISY party voters showed disenchantment with the government's performance, though it managed to stabilize the economy and lead it back to growth.

They pointed out that the improvement of the economy was not reflected in the real economy and many people still face the results of the crisis as unemployment stands at over 12 percent, and cuts in salaries and pensions are still in force.

The loss of parliamentary seats by DISY will not affect the stability of President Nicos Anastasiades's 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 will be sworn in early June, he will undertake an initiative to reach convergences with opposition parties on crucial issues.

Anastasiades has been in negotiations with Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci aimed at reunifying Cyprus.

Turkey controlled the northern part of the Cyprus island in 1974, in reaction to a coup by the military rulers of Greece at the time.

The two leaders said in a statement last week that they aim a solution agreement by the end of the year, which has to be approved in plebiscites by the two communities.

Anastasiades will rely on the support by AKEL for approval of an eventual agreement as all other parties are opposed to the kind of solution under negotiation.

DISY and AKEL, despite their ideological conflict and differences on the economy, have almost identical views on the need for an agreement solution with Turkish Cypriots reunifying Cyprus under the umbrella of a federal state.

Analysts could not offer an opinion on whether and how the combined loss of 10.6 percentage points by the two parties will affect in any way the result of an eventual solution plebiscite. Endit