The refusal of the Republican Turkish Party – CTP and the Communal Liberation Party – TKP to accept the results of the 1990 elections left 12 of the 50 seats vacant. In protest against interventions in the election process by Turkey, they abstained from the works of the new body, which functioned with an incomplete composition, for a period of about one year and a half.
In order to put an end to the resulting anomaly, a by-election was held to fill the vacancies that remained vacant. The two left-wing parties refused to participate in the process. However, the National Unity Party – UBP faced in the election the Renaissance Party – YDP of settlers, which was a former ally of the two abstaining parties, and the Social Democratic Party – SDP. One of the leaders of the latter, Raif Rauf Denktaş, was killed in a strange road accident in late 1985, when his car collided with a Turkish army vehicle. The vacant space left by the two abstaining parties provided an opportunity to create new parties, which tried to occupy the 12 empty seats.
The Nationalist Justice Party – Milliyetçi Adalet Parti (MAP) was founded by Zorlu Tore in 1991. It emerged from the Association of Nationalist Thought, with nationalist positions, for the recognition of a separate state and against a federal solution. The Unity Sovereignty Party – Birlik Egemenlik Partisi (BEP) was founded in 1990 by Arif Salih Kırdağ. It was a formation centered on its founder, without the characteristics of a party. Finally, the Free Democrats – Hür Demokrat Parti (HDP) was founded by Ismet Kotak, also in 1990, with a nationalist ideology too. Despite their short period of existence, these parties hoped to win votes due to the gap created by the absence of the CTP and the TKP.
Despite the refusal of the two parties to compete, and their significant influence, two thirds (67%) of the voters went to the polls, compared to 91.5% in 1990. However, it is noteworthy that more than 22% of those who voted chose to cast an invalid ballot, while a year and a half earlier, the invalid votes were only 2.7%. That is, 48% of the electorate chose to abstain from the election or to cancel their vote. The National Unity Party – UBP secured two-thirds of the vote, while the settlers’ Renaissance Party – YDP won 9.8%. The performance of the newly formed Free Democrats Party may come as a surprise because it secured 13.9% of the votes.
The Social Democratic Party – SDP and the Nationalist Justice Party – MAP received 3.8% and 3.7% respectively, while the Unity – Sovereignty – BEP Party was limited to 1.8%.
When examining the distribution of votes in towns and groups of communities, we observe the following:
The rates of abstention (overall 32.9%) and invalid votes (overall 22.1%) were higher in the towns of Nicosia (37.4% and 25.8%) and Famagusta (35% and 25%) and in the traditional Turkish Cypriot communities (33.2% and 20.3%). It is also noteworthy that the abstention rate was lower in communities with a non-mixed settler population (27%) and in communities with Turkish Cypriots from the south (26.9%). The rates of invalid votes show some impressive differences. While the overall rate was 22.1%, in communities with a non-mixed settler population it was only 9.3%, while in communities with a majority of settlers it was 17.3%. In the previous election, in May 1990, the differences in abstention rates and invalid votes in settler communities and in other population groups were minimal.
Regarding the distribution of votes, the National Unity Party – UBP secured its highest percentages in the communities with Turkish Cypriot population, in the traditional ones with 75.6% and in those with displaced persons from the south with 76.2%, ten points more than the overall rate of the party.
A strong competition for the votes of the settlers was evident, primarily from the Renaissance Party, the settlers – YDP and to a significant extent also from the Free Democrats – HDP. In communities with a non-mixed population of settlers, the National Unity Party – UBP was in par with the Renaissance Party (40.5% vs. 38.9%), while in communities where the settlers were in the majority against Turkish Cypriots from the south (group 20-30%), UBP won the majority with 56% versus 26%. The Free Democrats – HDP secured 15.3% in the first group above and 11.9% in the second.
The Social Democratic Party – SDP performed better in Nicosia with 7.2% which was the double of its overall share, while the Nationalist Justice Party – MAP performed similarly good, with 6.9%, in communities with Turkish Cypriot from the south.