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1883 Cypriot legislative election

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Legislative elections were held in Cyprus on 6, 7 and 8 June 1883. They were the first elections to the newly established Legislative Council.

Background

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The Legislative Council was formed in 1882, and consisted of six official members appointed by the High Commissioner and twelve elected members,[1] three of which were Muslims and nine of which were non-Muslims.[2]

Electoral system

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The island was divided into three constituencies, each formed of two districts.[1] Each constituency elected one Muslim and three non-Muslims. Muslim voters had one vote, whilst non-Muslims could vote for up to three candidates.[3] Due to the high levels of illiteracy, voting was not secret, with voters required to tell the polling officers their candidates of choice, which they were required to do in front of the candidates or their agents.[3]

Suffrage was limited to men aged over 21 who had been permanent residents during the five years prior to the election, and had paid either the verghi tax (which was levied as an annual payment of one four-thousandth of a property's value, 4% of rental income or 3% on profits or salaries) or rent for a dwelling or shop within the last year.[1][3] However, of the estimated 40,000 taxpayers in the territory at the time of the elections, only those that had been able to pay their taxes on time were able to register to vote.[4] A total of 21,073 voters were registered, of which 16,727 were Greek.[5]

Campaign

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Muslim

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Mehemet Ali Fehim and Ahmed Rashid were the sole Muslim candidates for the LarnacaFamagusta and LimassolPaphos constituencies respectively. Both were elected unopposed.[6]

The NicosiaKyrenia constituency was contested by three Muslim candidates from Nicosia, including Keoroghluzade Hussein Ata.[6]

Non-Muslim

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The LarnacaFamagusta constituency was contested by six non-Muslim candidates; Sotiris Amfietzis (Mayor of Famagusta), Kyprianos Economides (Bishop of Kition), Richardos Matei (an agronomist and landowner), Theodoros Peristianis (a lawyer), Zenon D. Pierides (a trader) and Arthur Young, a British district commissioner.[7]

The LimassolPaphos constituency was contested by eight non-Muslim candidates; Christodoulos Karydis (Mayor of Limassol), Georgios Loukas (a teacher), Georgios Malikides (a trader), Christodoulos Modinos, Dimitrios Nikolaidis (a trader), Tourmousis Paschalidis (a trader), Dimosthenis Pilavakis (a landowner) and Kyprianos Economides, who was also running in Larnaca–Famagusta.[7]

In NicosiaKyrenia, six non-Muslim candidates contested the three seats; Efstathios Constantinides (a professor), Paschalis Constantinides (a lawyer and money lender, and brother of Efstathios), Grigorios Dimitriadis (a landowner), Ioannis Pavlidis (a teacher), Michalis Siakallis (a grain dealer), and Richardos Matei, who was also running in Larnaca–Famagusta. Although the Governor of Nicosia had pointed out to the Registrar that Matei was not registered to vote and could not be a candidate, his nomination was accepted.[7]

Results

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Muslim seats

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Constituency Elected member
Larnaca–Famagusta Mehemet Ali Fehim
Limassol–Paphos Ahmed Rashid
Nicosia–Kyrenia Keoroghluzade Hussein Ata
Source: Collection of British reports[8]

Non-Muslim seats

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Constituency Candidate Votes % Notes
Larnaca–Famagusta Kyprianos Economides 2,108 74.8 Elected
Zenon D. Pierides 1,817 64.5 Elected
Theodoros Peristianis 1,392 49.4 Elected
Richardos Matei 1,373 48.7
Sotiris Amfietzis 166 5.9
Arthur Young 43 1.5
Limassol–Paphos Georgios Malikides 2,773 86.5 Elected
Dimitrios Nikolaidis 2,773 83.3 Elected
Kyprianos Economides 2,657 79.9 Elected
Tourmousis Paschalidis 479 14.4
Christodoulos Karydis 399 12.0
Dimosthenis Pilavakis 291 8.7
Georgios Loukas 78 2.3
Christodoulos Modinos 43 1.3
Nicosia–Kyrenia Michalis Siakallis 2,337 77.2 Elected
Paschalis Constantinides 2,013 66.5 Elected
Efstathios Constantinides 1,965 64.9 Elected
Richardos Matei 1,097 36.2
Ioannis Pavlidis 1,035 34.2
Grigorios Dimitriadis 580 19.2
Total ballots cast 9,172
Registered voters/turnout 16,727 54.8
Source: Protopapas

Aftermath

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Kyprianos Economides (Bishop of Kition), was elected in both Larnaca–Famagusta and Limassol–Paphos. He informed the High Commissioner that he intended to keep his Larnaca–Famagusta. A by-election was subsequently arranged for 17 July, which was contested by Dimostheni Chatzipavlou, Michail Efthyvoulos and Georgios Loukas, a losing candidate from the original elections. Chatzipavlou was elected with 1,172 votes to 231 for Efthyvoulos and 45 for Loukas; voter turnout was just 24.6%.[9]

Michalis Siakallis died within a year of the election, and a by-election was held in the Nicosia–Kyrenia on 4 March. Ioannis Pavlidis, who had finished fifth in the 1883 elections, was elected with 505 votes, defeating Nikolaos Róssos (429 votes) and Theodoulos Konstantinidis (85). Voter turnout was only 16.1% of the 6,324 electorate.[9]

Limassol–Paphos representative Dimostheni Chatzipavlou resigned from the Council in 1884. In the by-election on 5 November, Dimitris Pieridis was elected with 820 votes, defeating Ioannis Karemfylakis (175 votes). Voter turnout was 15.6% of the 6,533 electorate.[9]

The final by-election of the Council's first term was held on 24 December 1885 following the resignation of Pieridis. Socrates Fragoudis was elected with 686 votes, defeating Karemfylaki (60 votes). Voter turnout was 15.4% of the 4,849 electorate.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c An unexplored case of political change Workshop on Electoral Processes and Cleaves in Southern Europe
  2. ^ Thekla Kyritsi & Nikos Christofis (2018) Cypriot Nationalisms in Context: History, Identity and Politics, Springer, p96
  3. ^ a b c Yiannos Katsourides (2014) The History of the Communist Party in Cyprus: Colonialism, Class and the Cypriot Left, Bloomsbury, pp21, 50–52
  4. ^ Vasileios Protopapas (2011) Εκλογική ιστορία της Κύπρου: πολιτευτές, κόμματα και εκλογές στην Αγγλοκρατία (1878-1960) p125
  5. ^ Protopapas, p131
  6. ^ a b Christos Kyriakides (2015) Το Κυπριακό Νομοθετικό Συμβούλιο (1878-1937) : Ίδρυση λειτουργία και κοινοβουλευτικές αντιπαραθέσεις : συνταγματικές ελευθερίες υπό περιορισμό και αμφισβήτηση University of Cyprus, p189
  7. ^ a b c Protopapas, p130
  8. ^ Verzameling Britse rapporten, verslagen en andere stukken betreffende staatsadministratieve, juridische onderwerpen betrekking hebbende op Cyprus, Volume 1, p14
  9. ^ a b c d Protopapas, pp139–140