The elections of 8 December 1985 were held to fill a higher number of seats than in the previous House of Representatives following a decision to increase the seats from 50 to 80. Greek Cypriot deputies would occupy 56 seats, while the other 24 for Turks were to remain vacant.
The most important result of the election was undoubtedly the dramatic fall in AKEL’s share, which, fell from the top position to the third, a few hundred votes below DIKO. AKEL’s electoral failure meant more than just a drop of five or more points, especially given that after the 1981 parliamentary election a part of votes equal to 7.5% remained to be taken; it was the sum of PAME’s share, and of NEDIPA and the Union of the Center, which did not contest on their own the new election.
Early elections were contested by only four parties because no new formations appeared after 1981. It was then normal for all four contenders to eventually emerge winners from the ballots, provided each of them managed to get a share of the 1981 surpluses. In the end, only three parties won, with DIKO and EDEK particularly favored.
DIKO achieved an increase of its influence to 27.7%, by eight points or 40% when compared to 1981. It won 16 seats. This was a real triumph considering that for one year it was the target of sustained attacks by the two great parties, which disposed very strong party mechanisms that could help them to pass their positions on to the public. The fact that Spyros Kyprianou had already attracted part of the minor party voters since February 1983 (more than four percentage points) can not reduce the size of its success in 1985.
EDEK had a significant increase (by 35.5%) of its strength, which for the first time was a two-digit number (11.07%), and elected six MPs. This significantly exceeds the 8% threshold for entry into parliament.
Having in mind the above, the question emerges whether the 33.6% share, with an increase of 1.64 points or 5% compared to its 1981 score, was a real success for DISY. After a one-year long fight against President Kyprianou, the party increased its share of 1981, but had a loss of 0.5 point compared to Glafcos Clerides’s share in the presidential elections of 1983 (33.96% ). From this point of view, undoubtedly, the result of the parliamentary elections was not a clear victory for DISY, which was somewhat balanced by the top position it won and the election of 19 of the 56 deputies.
AKEL was devastated, with 27.4%, losing 5.34 points or 16.3% of its strength. The surprise becomes even bigger given that the party had always been characterized by a powerful and efficient machinery, high rate of vote consolidation and monolithic cohesion at all levels.
After all, DISY and AKEL provoked an early election aimed at neutralizing Spyros Kyprianou, but the result of their actions proved to be a real boomerang for them.