The north’s ‘parliament’ could not be opened for business on Tuesday after not enough of its members entered the chamber for proceedings to be able to begin, with members of the ruling coalition laying the blame at the feet of the opposition.
A minimum of 26 ‘MPs’ are required to be in the chamber at any given time for it to be considered open for business, and with only 25 of the ruling coalition’s members in Cyprus on Thursday, the opposition, consisting 18 members of the CTP and two independents, elected not to enter the chamber, and as such, the session never began.
Four members of ruling coalition parties, ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu, ‘energy minister’ Olgun Amcaoglu, and backbenchers Resmiye Canaltay and Ahmet Savasan, were all off the island, with the former two on official business and the latter two on holiday.
The ruling coalition immediately accused the opposition, and the CTP in particular, of playing political games.
Given that Tuesdays in the Turkish Cypriot legislature are typically dedicated to questions being answered of the ‘government’ by the opposition, the coalition does not believe it to be its own responsibility to hit the minimum of 26 members in the chamber, as it would on Mondays, which are typically reserved for the passage of legislation.
‘Finance minister’ Ozdemir Berova told the Cyprus Mail of his disgust at the opposition’s choice not to enter the chamber for a Tuesday session, describing it as “unprecedented in history”.
“The CTP is doing extraordinary things now it has been left without a leader,” he said, referring to the fact that its leader of nine years Tufan Erhurman was required to leave the party last month upon his election as Turkish Cypriot leader.
Earlier, ruling coalition party UBP deputy leader Sunat Atun had also accused the opposition of “playing games”.
“Despite the fact that some MPs are known to be abroad, they are creating the perception that there is a crisis. Despite the fact that one MP from the DP and three from the UBP are known to be abroad, they are portraying it as if it is a crisis,” he added.
The accusations levelled by Berova and Atun eventually garnered a response from the CTP’s Sila Usar Incirli, who said her party had chosen to not allow ‘parliament’ to open as part of its efforts to attempt to bring about an early legislative election.
“The Turkish Cypriot people have made a clear call. This call is a call for change. [‘Prime minister’] Unal Ustel’s government is the continuation of a failed, harmful, and corrupt system. The people have now embraced democracy, equality, and freedom,” she said, referring to Erhurman’s landslide victory at last month’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election.
She said the ruling coalition is “ignoring the people’s demand” for an early election.
“This call is not just ours. It is actually the call of the entire Turkish Cypriot people,” she said, adding that “it is the responsibility of politicians to listen to this voice”.
“If they are going to ignore the people’s calls, they should not engage in politics.”
Meanwhile, Devrim Barcin, also of the CTP, refuted Berova’s claims that the CTP’s decision to not enter the chamber had been “unprecedented”, saying that the UBP itself had refused to enter the chamber for a Tuesday session in 2017, when it was in power and led by Huseyin Ozgurgun.
“The UBP government deliberately did not provide enough MPs for a Tuesday session in 2017, and the question session was knowingly not carried out by the UBP,” he said.
He also rallied behind his party’s secretary-general Erkut Sahali’s call for fresh legislative elections to be held on March 22 – almost 11 months earlier than the latest possible date an election can be held, which is February 2027.
Tuesday was the second day in a row in which the ruling coalition faced difficulties in being able to convene a ‘parliamentary’ session, with proceedings on Monday having been delayed by three hours after three members of the UBP – Izlem Gurcag Altugra, Ali Pilli, and Hasan Tacoy – refused to enter the chamber.
Altugra, Pilli and Tacoy are all former ‘ministers’ who have been relieved of their duties by Ustel, with Tacoy having unsuccessfully challenged Ustel for the UBP’s leadership at last year’s party conference, with Altugra having said on Monday that she will not attend Monday plenary sessions in the Turkish Cypriot legislature until Ustel resigns.
In Monday’s session, Ustel had waved away calls for an early election.
“The UBP never shies away from elections. It is always ready for an election. The election date is January 2027, but if conditions improve in 2026, we will meet with our partners and discuss the prospect. We have no reservations,” he said.
It was at this point that Sahali had called for an election to be held in March, saying that “this country’s greatest need is to be rid of you”.
