At stake in this election:

• The office of President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

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 Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Derviş EROGLU
  • Party: National Unity Party (UBP) / Ulusal Birlik Partisi
• Mehmet Ali TALAT
  • Alliance: Republican Turkish Party / Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi (CTP)
• Tahsin ETRUGRULOGLU
  • Independent
• Mustafa Kemal TUMKAN
  • Independent
• Arif Salih KIRDAG
  • Independent
• Zeki BESIKTEPELI
  • Independent
• Ayhan KAYMAK
  • IndependentPopulation and number of registered voters:

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 265,100 ( 2006 Turkish Cypriot administration census)
• Registered Voters: 164,072 (April 2010 ) (Electoral district registration Lefkoşa: 51,381, Gazimağusa: 43,004, Girne: 31,233, Güzelyurt: 21,214, İskele: 17,240.)

Population and registered voters:

• Population: 182,201,962 (2015)
• Registered Voters: 67,422,005 (2015)