Parliamentary elections were held in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

in 1960. The

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

was elected on 31 July 1960. The

Communal Chambers The Communal Chambers were two parallel legislative bodies in Cyprus; one for the Greek Cypriot community and one for the Turkish Cypriot community. The Greek Chamber was abolished in 1965. History The Chambers were established under the 1960 co ...

were also elected on 7 August. In the House of Representatives 35 seats were elected by

Greek Cypriots Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

and 15 by

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

.Nohlen & Stöver, p434 The result was a victory for the Patriotic Front, which won 30 of the 50 seats. In the Communal Chambers, the Patriotic Front won the majority of seats in the Greek Chamber, whilst the

Cyprus Turkish National Union The Cyprus Turkish National Union ( tr, Kıbrıs Milli Türk Birliği, KMTB) was a conservative political party representing the Turkish minority in Cyprus led by Fazıl Küçük.Marshall William Conley (1967Political Community and Social Confli ...

won all seats in the Turkish Chamber.

Electoral system

The House of Representatives consisted of 35 Greek members and 15 Turkish members, whilst the Greek Communal Chamber had 26 members and the Turkish Communal Chamber had 30. The 1959 electoral law divided Cyprus into six multi-member constituencies. Voters could vote for as many candidates as there were seats in their constituency. The electoral system used was

Plurality voting Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per ...

Campaign

The Democratic Union led by Themistocles Dervis and Ioannis Clerides did not participate in the elections.Yitzhak Oron ''Middle East Record Volume 1, 1960'' The Moshe Dayan Centre, p225Marshall William Conley (1967
Political Community and Social Conflict: Cyprus
/ref> The Democratic Union had opposed the 1959 electoral law, claiming it favoured the Patriotic Front. The Patriotic Front and

AKEL The Progressive Party of Working People ( el, Ανορθωτικό Κόμμα Εργαζόμενου Λαού, ; abbr. , AKEL; tr, Emekçi Halkın İlerici Partisi) is a Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith, Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover ...

formed a pact for the elections, with a pre-agreed split of 30 and 5 seats respectively. The hastily formed Pancyprian Union of Fighters fielded four candidates, with two in Nicosia, one in Kyrenia and one in Larnaca. The Patriotic Front and AKEL pressured independent candidates to withdraw from the elections. As a result, the only female candidate, Kallistheni Maouni (

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

), withdrew her candidacy. In

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

, the three candidates of the Patriotic Front and one candidate of AKEL were elected unopposed. In the fifteen Turkish seats, eight members of the

, which was led by Vice-President

Fazıl Küçük Fazıl Küçük (; el, Φαζίλ Κιουτσούκ; 14 March 1906 – 15 January 1984) was a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus. Biography Fazıl Küçük, the son of a farmer, was ...

, ran unopposed in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

Kyrenia Kyrenia ( el, Κερύνεια ; tr, Girne ) is a city on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. While there is evidence showing that the wider region ...

and

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

, whilst six independent candidates ran against the Cyprus Turkish National Union’s candidates in

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

and

. The Patriotic Front and AKEL also formed an electoral pact for the Communal Chambers, with a pre-agreed split of 20 and 3 seats respectively. They reserved three seats for the Latin, Armenian and Maronite Communities, which had opted to join the Greek Community upon independence. For the 26 seats in the Greek Chamber 31 candidacies were submitted. In

the three candidates of the Patriotic Front and in

the three candidates of the Patriotic front and one candidate of AKEL were elected unopposed. For the 30 seats of the Turkish Chamber 31 candidacies were submitted, 30 of which were members of the Cyprus Turkish National Union. The Cyprus Turkish National Union's 10, 6, 2, 4 and 4 candidates in

and

respectively were declared elected unopposed. The agreement reached by the Patriotic Front and AKEL also provided that the two parties would avoid the holding of elections, and independent candidates were pressured to withdraw. In

, independent candidate Christodoulos Pipis withdrew his candidacy and the six candidates of the Patriotic Front, one candidate of AKEL, Latin candidate Anthony Pietroni and Armenian candidate Berge Tilbian (who ran as a candidate for the Patriotic Front) were declared elected unopposed. In

, on 3 August independent candidate Efthivoulos Ieropoulos withdrew his candidacy and the two candidates of the Patriotic Front and one candidate of AKEL were declared elected unopposed. In

, on 6 August (one day before the elections) independent candidate Polyvios Mavrommatis withdrew his candidacy and the four candidates of the Patriotic Front were declared elected unopposed. Informal elections were held to decide the candidate for the Armenian community on 5 August. The winner of these elections would run as a candidate for the Patriotic Front in Nicosia and the other candidates would withdraw their candidacies. These were won by Berge Tilbian, and Vahram Levonian withdrew his candidacy. In

, independent candidate Savvas Christis refused to withdraw from the elections and ran against the three candidates of the Patriotic Front (including the Maronite candidate, Ioannis Mavrides). In the Turkish Chamber, independent candidate Beukagi Kioproulou was pressured into withdrawing his candidacy in

and the four candidates of the Cyprus Turkish National Union were declared elected unopposed. Therefore, no elections were held for the Turkish Chamber and the Cyprus Turkish National Union won all 30 seats.

Results

House of Representatives

By constituency

=Greek Community

=Turkish Community

Communal Chambers

By constituency

Aftermath

Following the elections,

Glafcos Clerides Glafcos Ioannou Clerides ( el, Γλαύκος Ιωάννου Κληρίδης; 24 April 1919 – 15 November 2013) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fourth president of Cyprus from 1993 to 2003. At the time of his death, ...

was elected president of the House of Representatives and Orhan Muderisoglu was elected Vice-President, and a 12-member

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

was formed.

By-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

were held shortly after the elections as four of the elected MPs, Fazil Plumber, Andreas Papadopoulos, Osman Örek and Niyazi Manyera were appointed ministers. On 21 July 1961 Patriotic Front MP Lefkios Rodosthenous was removed from the House of Representatives. His seat remained vacant for the rest of his term. In 1961 the Independent Turkish Group was created by eleven of the Turkish-Cypriot MPs. It was led by Orhan Muderisoglu. In 1962 MP Petros Stylianou left the Patriotic Front and continued as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

for the remainder of his term. In 1963 Turkish-Cypriot MP Shemshedin Halit Kazım died in a car accident. His seat was filled by his wife Ayla Halit Kazım. In December 1963 the Turkish Cypriots withdrew from participation in the government, leaving Parliament with only its Greek members.Historical review
Parliament of Cyprus On 21 April 1966 Patriotic Front MPs Titos Fanos and Georgios Tompazos were appointed ministers of agriculture and works respectively, and resigned from the House of Representatives. Their seats remained vacant for the rest of their respective terms. Another MP, Costas Christodoulides, left the Patriotic Front, and Daphnis Panayides, elected in the first by-elections, resigned from the House of Representatives in that same year. Panayides' seat also remained vacant.

References

{{Cypriot elections 1960 in Cyprus

Legislative elections in Cyprus July 1960 events in Europe August 1960 events in Europe