Candidates standing for MP to be submitted on May 6

Formal submissions of candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary elections will take place on May 6, while the House will dissolve on April 23, officials announced on Thursday.

The details were made known after a meeting between representatives of political parties and the permanent secretary of the interior ministry, also the chief returning officer.

Based on the schedule, parliament will dissolve on April 23. The following day, the interior minister will publish in the government gazette the decree concerning the holding of elections.

Candidacies for MP will be submitted on May 6. The elections will be held on May 24.

Any citizen of Cyprus who is at least 21 can run for MP. They must have a clean criminal record, not be barred from standing for office by a court order, and be “of sound mind”.

The ballots will be sorted and counted at the polling stations where they are cast. Results will be announced on the evening of election day – Sunday, May 24.

The formal declaration of the new MPs will take place on May 25 at noon at the Nicosia municipal theatre.

A total of 1,200 polling stations will operate staffed by approximately 5,300 officers.

Parliamentary elections in Cyprus are held every five years to elect the 56 members of the House of Representatives. The last elections were held in May 2021.

The current electoral system provides for the distribution of parliamentary seats through a system of simple proportional representation, with a 3.6 per cent threshold for political parties to enter parliament.

While voting was historically compulsory, it is now often conducted without that constraint.