Cyprus Mail 28 March 2025 - by Charalambos Stylianou
The House interior committee made significant decisions on Thursday regarding a sweeping package of 70 bills and legislative proposals aimed at reforming Cyprus’ electoral law. However, key changes, including lowering the voting age to 17 and introducing a national list for parliamentary seats, will not move forward for immediate approval.
After discussions among political parties, the committee agreed not to proceed with these reforms at this stage. Other proposed changes, such as adjusting electoral districts, allowing postal voting and introducing cross-party voting, have also been set aside for now. As a result, these amendments will not be in place for the next parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026.
Discussions on these proposals will resume in September. This means any potential changes will likely be implemented after the next election cycle.
Meanwhile, parliament is expected to vote before Easter on a separate set of bills concerning the automatic registration of voters in electoral rolls. If passed, this measure would add 86,000 new voters to the system. However, the distribution of parliamentary seats across districts will remain unchanged. Nicosia will keep 20 seats, Limassol 12, Famagusta 11, Larnaca 6, Paphos 4, and Kyrenia 3.
Speaking after the session, committee chairman and Akel MP Akel MP Aristos Damianou stated that final party positions would be presented in future meetings. Once a consensus is reached on any legislation that secures majority support, it will be forwarded to the House of Representatives for a vote.
While electoral reforms remain a topic of debate, the delay means the 2026 elections will proceed under the existing rules.
