Political party leaders evaluate election results

As unofficial results from Sunday’s general elections continue to come in the leaders of the political parties evaluated their parties’ performances.

The leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) and Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu said that his party had emerged stronger from the January 23 elections.

Addressing party members in a victory speech at the UBP headquarters in Sarayönü, Lefkoşa, Sucuoğlu said that a difficult period awaited his party.

“We are entering a decade of reforms and economic steps. The people have given us their support and we shall try to meet their expectations,” he said.

Pointing out that the UBP was a party that believed in the TRNC and which acted in harmony with Turkey, the UBP leader vowed to address the country’s economic problems.

Thanking the different branches and groups within the party which worked for the UBP’s victory, he said that a party was only as strong as its grassroots.

“This government’s priority will be the economy. Once we solve the economy everything else will follow,” Sucuoğlu said.

He added that he expected the president to hand him the mandate of forming the new government as soon as Monday or Tuesday.

The leader of the Republican Turkish Party Tufan Erhürman in his evaluation at the CTP headquarters in Lefkoşa said they were pleased to see that they had raised their votes close to 50 per cent compared to the previous election.

He said that they remain committed to the goal of emerging as the leading party and forming the government.

Erhürman said that the CTP will take its place in parliament as a strong opposition in the period ahead and will continue to work for the welfare of the country.

The leader of the Democrat Party Fikri Ataoğlu expressed his disappointment over the low turnout in the elections and said it was important to determine the reasons behind this.

Thanking everyone who braced the cold weather and pandemic conditions to vote, Ataoğlu said that they will be evaluating the results in detail in the coming days.

He said the DP had expected to receive a higher number of votes and would comment later as the results become official.

The leader of the Peoples’ Party Kudret Özersay speaking at the HP’s headquarters in Lefkoşa said that it was important to respect the outcome of the election.

Pointing out that turnout was much lower compared to the previous election, Özersay said that the two largest parties had succeeded in drawing their voters to the ballot.

“The low morale due to the economic crisis made its impact on the elections resulting in a low turnout,” he said.

Özersay also expressed the view that the polarisation that emerged during the presidential elections continued to grow resulting in lower support for the HP which stood more at the centre of the political spectrum with its realistic policies.

He also attributed the loss of a seat from Güzelyurt district to his party’s failure to win more seats.

“We shall evaluate the outcome of the elections in detail but the fact that the National Unity Party (UBP) emerged as the leading party despite all the problems being experienced in the country is thought-provoking,” Özersay said.

He said he had also congratulated the UBP and CTP leaders as the general picture emerged.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (TDP) Cemal Özyiğit said that he will be handing in his resignation after his party failed to pass the 5 per cent threshold.

In a written statement evaluating the results of the election, Özyiğit said he will be submitting his resignation to the party’s authorized bodies and will be sharing with the public a more detailed evaluation of the election once the official results are announced.