On 22 May 2016 Parliamentary Elections took place in Cyprus. The results showed that the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) party of current President Anastasiades had won the elections with 30,68% of the vote, despite a setback from its earlier record of 34,3%. The communist (AKEL) party and centrist (DIKO) party came in second and third like last time, although both lost support as well and went down to 25,67% and 14,49% of the vote respectively. New parties entered the stage such as the new centre-left (SYPOL) party with 6%, the nationalist-conservative KA party with 5,24% but also the neo-Nazi (ELAM) party with 3,71%, the latter which has links to the Golden Dawn party in Greece, also a neo-Nazi party. Only 56 out of 80 seats were up for grabs, since the island is still divided in a Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot part.

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The outcome has no result on the government, as the country has a Presidential system and the government will only change during next Presidential elections. It could make it more difficult however to pass on a possible peace deal, since there are a total of 8 parties now in the Parliament, compared to 6 before.

The island has been divided since 1974, during which the Turkish army invaded the Turkish part, following a coup d'etat by the Greek military junta. Earlier efforts have been made to unify the island, such as in 2004 with the Annan Peace Plan, that was voted down in a referendum by the Greeks. The atmosphere seems more favourable now for a deal due to the relatively recently discovered gas reserves next to Cyprus and the earlier economic troubles Cyprus has faced as unifcation could lead to potential economic benefits for both sides of the island.

For a short historical overview of Cyprus by the BBC click here.

For recent economic figures on Cyprus, click here and here.