NICOSIA, Cyprus
The National Unity Party (UBP) leader Dervis Eroglu received a mandate on Friday (May 1st) to form a new government in Northern Cyprus. Eroglu has a 15 day window to form the new cabinet and has said will submit a list of ministers to President Mehmet Ali Talat by Tuesday.
In other news, the new Turkish Cypriot parliament was sworn in on Friday. The right-wing conservative UBP has 26 seats in the 50-seat parliament; Talat’s former ruling left-wing Republican Turkish Party (CTP) has 15 seats; the Democratic Party is represented by 5 lawmakers; and the Communal Democracy Party and the Freedom and Reform Party have two seats each.