LEFKOSA - Mehmet Ali Talat, the Prime Minister of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) who has declared his candidacy for presidency, expressed his expectation on Friday that he would be elected the new president in the first round, winning more than 60 percent of the votes.
The presidential elections will be held in TRNC on Sunday (April 17th).
In an exclusive interview with the A.A, Talat, who is also the leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), said, ''if I win, this shows that my policies are approved.''
END OF ISOLATIONS
Touching on the initiatives to end TRNC's isolation, Talat said, ''after 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots voted 'yes', it is an unjust behavior to continue to isolate them. This is more than promises, it is a right and it is impossible to give it up. Turkey and we are insisting on this matter. It is unacceptable for Turkey to open its ports to Greek Cypriot-flagged ships before direct trade is launched with us (Turkish Cypriots).
On the other hand, Dervis Eroglu, the leader of the main opposition National Unity Party (UBP) who has also declared his candidacy, said that the new president would most probably be elected in the second round and added, ''Talat and I have equal chances for presidency.''
This will be the first time that the presidential office will be handed over to a new person in TRNC.
TRNC President Rauf Denktas will not run this time. He has been running for presidency in all elections since 1976.
Presidential elections are held once in five years in TRNC. A candidate must gain absolute majority of valid votes to be elected president. If none of the candidates does not get that much votes on April 17th, a second tour of elections will be held on April 24th, in which only two candidates who gain most of the votes in the first tour, will participate. The winner of the elections will be the president of the TRNC for 5 years.
A total of 147,823 electors will cast votes in the elections.
There will be 9 candidates in TRNC Presidential elections, namely Zehra Cengiz (Cyprus Socialist Party-KSP), Dr. Mustafa Arabacioglu (Democrat Party-DP), Nuri Cevikel (New Party-YP), Mehmet Ali Talat (Republican Turkish Party-CTP), Dr. Dervis Eroglu (National Unity Party-UBP), Huseyin Angolemli (Communal Liberation Party-TKP), Ayhan Kaymak (independent), Arif Salih Kirdag (independent) and Zeki Besiktepeli (independent).