The change in leadership, with Mehmet Ali Talat succeeding to Rauf Denktash in 2005, took place at a time when the omens for reunification of Cyprus were not very encouraging. The Republic of Cyprus adhered to the European Union in May 2004 without a solution to the Cyprus Problem and Turkish Cypriots felt cut off the European family, while prospects for a solution appeared slim. Two factors negatively affected the success of the Republican Turkish Party United Forces – CTPBG in February 2005, its failure to secure a majority and the losses suffered by the Peace and Democracy Movement – BDH of Mustafa Akıncı, a potential partner in government. BDH’s fall from six in 2003 to one seat in 2005 left no alternative to CTP than partner with a conservative party, the National Unity Party – UBP of Derviş Eroğlu or the Democratic Party – DP of Serdar Denktaş. Mehmet Ali Talat continued its coalition with DP for less than two months; His election to the post of President, as a successor to Rauf Denktash, who did not seek re-election, led to a shift in the party’s leadership. The new leader, Ferdi Sabit Soyer and CTP continued a coalition government with the DP for another year and a half.

What followed was a well-known scenario in Turkish Cypriot politics; deputies of UBP and DP left their parties and formed the Freedom and Reform Party – Özgürlük ve Reform Partisi, ÖRP, which collaborated with CTP and formed a new cabinet. They stayed in power until May 2009, following a snap election in April 2009, almost one year before the parliament’s mandate came to end. CTP’s decision in January 2009 to call early elections was a surprise move in the light of opinion polls that were showing that it was losing ground. The economic situation was bad, people were complaining about the decline of their living standards and CTP’s mismanagement of public affairs, strongly criticised by its own electorate as well. Talks on the Cyprus Problem between two left wing leaders, President Demetris Christofias and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat had achieved some progress, without, however meeting the expectations generated by hopes and support by the international community.

In the meantime, Mehmet Ali Talat showed signs of distancing himself from the party, which observers linked with its intention to seek re-election in April 2010.

Seven contestants participated in the elections of 19 April 2009, as follows:

The Republican Turkish Party New Forces (Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi Birleşik Güçler) – CTPBG, with Ferdi Sabit Soyer.

The National Unity Party (Ulusal Birlik Partisi) – UBP, with Derviş Eroğlu. Following Eroğlu’s loss of the party’s leadership, in February 2006, many have considered his political career terminated. However, he won UBP’s leadership again, in December 2009.

The Democratic Party (Demokrat Partisi) – DP with Serdar Denktaş.

The Freedom and Reform Party – Özgürlük ve Reform Partisi – ÖRP with Turgay Avcı.

The Communal Democracy Party (Toplumcu Demokrasi Partisi) – TDP, created from a merger of the Peace and Democracy Movement – BDH and the Communal Liberation Party – TKP, headed by Mehmet Çakıcı.

The United Cyprus Party (Birleşik Kıbrıs Partisi) – BKP, with İzzet İzcan. The Party had contested the 2005 election with the Communal Liberation Party – TKP, but failed to enter the parliament.

The Politics for the People Party (Halk İçin Siyaset Partisi) – HIS, headed by Ahmet Yönlüer.

We note the usual pattern in numbers, an impressive increase of registered voters; in four years, their number passed from 147249 to 161742, about 10% increase. The rate of turnout to the polls was 81%, same as in 2005. The National Unity Party – UBP won the election with 43.97%, while the Republican Turkish Party suffered a cruel defeat, as it lost one third of its 2005 vote share, falling from 44.51% to 29.34%.

CTP’s biggest losses, by 20 percentage points, were in the town of Nicosia and in the group of native Turkish Cypriot communities. These were the communities, which, according to the 2003 elections and the Annan Plan referendum of 2004, had massively shifted support from the intransigent stance of Rauf Denktash to political forces seeking a solution and a united island joining the European Union. UBP, the winner, increased its influence in all groups of communities, except in those exclusively inhabited by settlers from the mainland. In fact, the presence of ÖRP seems to have had a negative impact on the overall performance of UBP; ÖRP secured an average of 22.66% in settlers’ communities and between 8-10% in communities with a significant presence of settlers, against an overall of 6.20%. The Democratic Party’s overall share was 10.64%, almost three points down against its 2005 vote, while the alliance of TKP and BDH increased BDH’s 2005 vote from 5.84% to 6.20% winning one seat more.

UBP returned to power with a majority of 26 in a House of 50 and Derviş Eroğlu formed an exclusively UBP government.