Democratic Party (Northern Cyprus)

The Democratic Party (Turkish: Demokrat Parti, DP), officially known as Democratic Party — National Forces (Turkish: Demokrat Parti — Ulusal Güçler), is a conservative[1] political party in Northern Cyprus. The leader of the party is Serdar Denktaş, son of former president Rauf Denktaş.

Democratic Party

Demokrat Parti
LeaderSerdar Denktaş
Founded1992
Split fromNational Unity Party
HeadquartersNorth Nicosia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
IdeologyConservatism[1]
Turkish Cypriot nationalism
Two-state solution
Political positionCentre-right[2]
ColorsRed, White, Green
Parliament:
3 / 50
Municipalities:
1 / 28
Website
www.demokratparti.org
  • Politics of North Cyprus
  • Political parties
  • Elections

Overview

The Democratic Party was founded as a breakaway from the ruling right-wing National Unity Party (UBP) in 1992. The party merged in 1993 with the New Dawn Party (YDP), a party representing the interests of the Turkish settlers in Northern Cyprus, and consistently had high levels of support in the settler population until the 2003 election. Rauf Denktaş had considerable influence on the party.[3]

At the legislative elections for the Assembly of the Republic on 20 January 2005, the party won 13.5% of the popular vote and 6 out of 50 seats. Its candidate, Mustafa Arabacıoğlu, won 13.3% of the votes in the Northern Cyprus presidential elections on 17 April 2005. At the legislative elections on 19 April 2009 the DP won 5 out of 50 seats and 10.7% of the popular vote.

In 2013, 8 members of the parliament resigned from the National Unity Party (UBP) and joined the Democratic Party. The party subsequently renamed itself Democratic Party — National Forces.[4] At the legislative elections in 2013, the DP greatly increased its share of the votes and won 12 out of 50 seats and 23.2% of the popular vote. The party then subsequently went on to become the junior partner of the coalition government under the Republican Turkish Party (CTP).[5] However, in 2014, four members of the parliament resigned from the party[6] and three of them joined the National Unity Party.[7] In July 2015, the party became the main opposition party, against the CTP-UBP coalition.[8] It joined the government as the junior partner once again, this time with the UBP, in April 2016.[9]

Election results
Assembly of the Republic
Election Votes Seats Role
# % Rank # ±
1993 N/A 29.2 2nd new DP–CTP coalition
1998 246,602 22.6 4th 3 UBP–DP coalition
2003 172,473 12.9 3rd 6 CTP–DP coalition
2005 174,721 13.5 3rd 1 CTP–DP coalition
2009 150,695 10.7 3rd 1 in opposition
2013 288,021 23.2 3rd 7 CTP–DP coalition
2018 420,102 7.8 5th 9 CTP–HP–TDP–DP coalition

References
  1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Northern Cyprus". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  2. Andrekos Varnava; Christalla Yakinthou (2011). Cyprus: Political Modernity and the Structures of Democracy in a Divided Island. The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe. Oxford University Press. p. 469.
  3. Hatay, Mete (2005), Beyond Numbers: An Inquiry into the Political Integration of the Turkish 'Settlers' in Northern Cyprus (PDF), PRIO Cyprus Center, retrieved 29 December 2016
  4. "DP Ulusal Güçler siyaset sahnesinde" (in Turkish). Yeni Düzen. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  5. "Başbakan Erdoğan ile görüşmek istiyor" (in Turkish). Milliyet. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  6. "DP-UG'de istifa şoku" (in Turkish). Kıbrıs. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  7. "DPUG'den istifa eden 3 vekil UBP'ye katıldı!" (in Turkish). Kıbrıs Postası. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. "Ve kabine açıklandı" (in Turkish). Star Kıbrıs. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  9. "Yeni Kabine açıklandı!" (in Turkish). HABERKKTC. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
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