At stake in this election:

• 50 seats in the Legislative Assembly (Cumhuriyet Meclisi)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Mehmet Ali TALAT
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Derviş EROGLU **
• Assembly: Northern Cyprus has a unicameral Legislative Assembly (Cumhuriyet Meclisi) with 50 seats.

** Governs with the consent of a legislative majority.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is nominated by the president.
• In the Legislative Assembly (Cumhuriyet Meclisi) 50 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Members are elected from 5 electoral districts. There is a 5 percent threshold for gaining representation. Voters in each district may vote for a party list, or for individual candidates. If they vote for individual candidates, their number of votes cannot exceed the number of seats in the district.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Party of National Unity / Ulusal Birlik Partisi (UBP)
  • Leader: Tahsin ERTUGRULOGLU
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Republican Turkish Party / Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi (CTP)
  • Leader: Ferdi Sabit SOYER
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Democratic Party / Demokrat Parti (DP)
  • Leader: Serdar DENKTAS
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Freedom and Reform Party / Ozgur Parti (ORP)
  • Leader: Turgay AVCI
  • Seats won in last election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 265,100 ( 2006 Turkish Cypriot administration census)
• Registered Voters: 171,000 (April 2009 est.)