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Republic of Cyprus Government
The full name of South Cyprus is “The Republic of Cyprus”.
The government of South Cyprus has three distinct and separate
branches which are the, Executive, House of Representatives,
and the Judiciary. Besides these three branches there also
exits the ministers which are in charge of the various ministries.
Executive Branch
The Executive Branch is basically the President and Vice-President
of the Republic. The President is elected to a five year term
by the people in a general election. But as often is the case
in South Cyprus there is no clear majority and coalitions
must be formed. Also said coalitions can be unstable since
the claim of legitimacy is based on the total votes garnered
by coalitions. As such when a member leaves the coalition
a clear majority is lost and in most cases this leads to new
elections. This has been the case in Cyprus and while normally
elections are held regularly at their designated intervals
of 5 years this has been thrown off by multiple early elections.
The president is said to exercise his executive power through
the council of ministers which are appointed by the President.
These ministers do not have to be chosen from the House of
Representatives and are up to the discretion of the President.
There is a vice presidency, however, as per the original Cypriot
constitution this position remains unoccupied in wait of a
Turkish Cypriot.
House of Representatives
The legislative power of South Cyprus is exercised through
the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives as per envisioned by the constitution
was supposed to be comprised of 35 Greek Cypriots and 15 Turkish
Cypriots. These numbers have since changed and the House now
consists of 80 members. There are 56 Greek Cypriot representatives
and 24 seats have been left empty for the Turkish Cypriots.
Like the President, Representatives are elected by the people
every 5 years.
Judiciary Branch
In South Cyprus to deal with Judiciary problems different
courts were created under the 1960 constitution. These courts
are:
• The Supreme Court of the Republic
• The Assize Courts
• District Courts
• Military Court
• Industrial Disputes Court
• Rent Control Court
• Family Court
The highest court of appeals in South Cyprus for constitutional
and administrative law is the Supreme Court of the Republic.
It is composed of 12 members and on president.
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