Cyprus’s House of Representatives is electing a new Speaker today — the 19th time it has done so in the 66 years since the Republic was founded.
The vote, taking place at the first plenary session of the newly elected parliament, will determine who holds the second highest role in the constitutional order of the Republic of Cyprus: if the President is temporarily absent or unable to perform their duties, the Speaker steps in.
What does the Speaker actually do?
Under the constitution and the House’s standing orders, the Speaker chairs plenary sessions, maintains order, puts questions to the vote, and announces results. They oversee all parliamentary services, appoint two MPs as secretaries and two as ushers, represent the House at official functions, and communicate on its behalf with the President of the Republic and other state officials. They also authorise expenditure provided for in the House budget.
The Speaker is elected by MPs at the first session of each parliamentary term and holds the position for its full five-year duration. If the Speaker is temporarily absent or the post falls vacant pending a new election, the eldest MP presides — unless the House decides otherwise.
How the role came about
The constitution stipulates that the Speaker must be a Greek Cypriot, elected by the Greek Cypriot members of the House, while the Deputy Speaker must be a Turkish Cypriot, elected by the Turkish Cypriot members. Both are elected separately but at the same session.
The House first convened on August 16, 1960 — the same day Cyprus was proclaimed an independent republic. That first session was presided over by the eldest Greek Cypriot MP, Charidemos Hadjicharis, until a Speaker was elected. Glafcos Clerides was chosen unopposed, with left-wing MPs backing his candidacy. His election was, as Phileleftheros reported the following day, the first substantive act of the newly founded state.
After intercommunal violence in December 1963, Turkish Cypriot MPs withdrew from the House and their seats have remained vacant ever since. No elections were held in 1965, and the First Parliamentary Term was extended annually by legislation for five years.
The post in Cypriot history
Several Speaker elections have doubled as pivotal moments in the country’s political history.
When the 1974 coup and Turkish invasion upended the constitutional order, Clerides — then serving his second term as Speaker — assumed the duties of Acting President under Article 36.2 of the constitution until Archbishop Makarios returned to Cyprus on December 7, 1974. Tassos Papadopoulos, who had been designated to act as Speaker in Clerides’s absence, exercised the Speaker’s functions during that period.
The death of Makarios on August 3, 1977, triggered another constitutional cascade. Speaker Spyros Kyprianou became Acting President and was subsequently elected President in his own right, vacating the speakership. Alekos Michaelides was elected to fill it.
The 1985 election produced the most procedurally complex contest in the House’s history. Four candidates — Clerides, Georgios Ladas, Ezekias Papaioannou, and Vasos Lyssarides — contested the post, forcing the House to adopt a new three-round voting procedure for the first time. Lyssarides won in the third round with 22 votes, backed by DIKO’s 16 MPs crossing the floor to support him.
Dimitris Christofias became the first AKEL leader to hold the speakership when he was elected in 2001, and was re-elected in 2006. He left the post in February 2008 after winning the presidential election.
The 2011 election was decided by a single vote. Yiannakis Omirou of EDEK beat DIKO’s Marios Garoyian 28 votes to 27 in the third round of voting, after an 11-day political standoff, with the deciding vote cast by DIKO MP Zacharias Koulias.
Annita Demetriou made history in 2021 when she became the first woman to serve as Speaker, elected in the second round with 25 votes and the backing of DISY, ELAM, and DIPA.
Today’s vote
Thirteen different individuals have held the speakership — officially or in a temporary capacity — across 18 elections since 1960. Today’s vote is the first of the 13th parliamentary term, following the May 24, 2026 elections.
Three candidates are in contention. DISY leader Annita Demetriou, who held the speakership from 2021 to 2026, is seeking to retain the post with 17 confirmed votes from her party. AKEL Secretary General Stefanos Stefanou enters the vote with 19 confirmed votes from AKEL and ALMA, including a pledge of support from MP Irene Charalambides. DIKO leader Nikolas Papadopoulos is also a candidate, with a base of up to 16 votes if supported by ELAM.
The outcome may hinge on Direct Democracy Cyprus, which was still deliberating this morning, and on whether DIKO remains in the race or shifts its support to one of the other candidates. Demetris Souglis of Direct Democracy Cyprus has also been mentioned as a possible candidacy.
