Turkish Cypriots to head to ballot boxes on Jan 23

Turkish Cypriots will be heading for early general elections on Jan. 23 to elect its 50 parliamentary deputies following the resignation of a shaky coalition last month and the election of a new leader of the ruling party.

The decision on holding early general elections was published in the country's Official Gazette after it was approved by the Turkish Cypriot Parliament.

Determining the number of people to vote and deputies to be elected of each district in the northern part of the divided island, Narin Ferdi Şefik, chair of the Supreme Election Board (YSK), sent all the necessary information to 14 political parties, also noting that the election calendar will be announced soon.

The total population in the six districts was 245,869, while the number of deputies from the Girne district increased to 11 and that of from the Güzelyurt district decreased to three, according to the YSK.

Forming a government in the Turkish Cypriot 50-seat parliament requires the support of at least 26 lawmakers.

The last government in the country resigned because of the inability of the parliament to convene for a while due to the lack of quorum and disagreements within the coalition partners, the National Unity Party (UBP), the Rebirth Party (YDP) and the Democrat Party (DP).

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