Filenews 1 March 2024 - by Frixos Dalitis
A candidate village. It is not just a figure of speech, nor an exaggeration. With the official submission of candidacies, no one can know how far the final number of our compatriots who will contest for a place in the upcoming elections on June 9 can go.
The large number of elected representatives who will have a role in the new local government on the one hand, combined with the parallel holding of the European elections, is expected to gather a huge number of candidates vying for these positions.
The difficulty that many parties face in drawing up their lists should also be included in the equation, as a large number of people are required to fill all elected positions. Which, of course, they themselves created through the final formulation of the bill that was finally passed into law by the Parliament.
Because the simultaneous electoral process of European elections and local government elections, together with the large number of candidates they have to find to fill in ballot papers, put pressure on the same...
On the other hand, in the old days they could persuade a person to stand for the European elections and if he was not elected, they would nominate him for mayor and everyone was satisfied. But now that it is at the same time, this cannot be done.
In the elections of 9 June, we will have the following data:
>> 20 municipalities for the free areas and 9 occupied municipalities. So so many mayors. In some cases we will have two, three or more mayoral candidates. Plus, of course, the number of community leaders.
>> 93 deputy mayors, since each area participating in the mayoral area will have its own deputy mayor. For example, the new Nicosia Municipality will have a deputy mayor of Nicosia, a deputy mayor of Aglantzia, a deputy mayor of Engomi and a deputy mayor of Agios Dometios. The 93 deputy mayoral positions will be contested by double or even triple the number of candidates.
>> 349 Municipal Councillors for the free Municipalities plus 94 Municipal Councillors for the occupied Municipalities, a total of 443. Each party will have its own list. Most for all municipalities and completed ballots. We have seven parliamentary parties. So the number of candidates for City Councillors will approach 3,000. Without taking into account the number of candidates for Community Councils.
>> 209 elected members of School Boards for free and occupied areas, which will again be contested by combinations of almost all parties. It is clarified that a position on school boards can be claimed by someone who is a candidate for another position.
>> 5 Presidents of District Organizations: To the whole equation are added the five positions of Presidents of District Organizations for which we already have, two candidates for the district of Nicosia, two candidates for the district of Limassol, two for the district of Famagusta, two for the district of Larnaka and two for the district of Paphos. A total of ten so far, without excluding a further increase in their number.
>> Six MEPs: In the upcoming elections we will also vote on the positions of the six MEPs of the Republic of Cyprus. The six seats will be contested by corresponding candidates from all seven parliamentary parties plus any other combinations that may arise, such as the newly formed VOLT. Under these circumstances, it is expected that in total we will have at least 48 candidates for the European Parliament.
So, reaching the totality of everything, it is understood that at the end of the day we will have a number of candidates that will be almost equal to the population of a large community or even a small municipality...
