North deadlock continued into third day

As the ‘parliamentary’ deadlock in the north continued into a third day with no ‘parliament speaker’ having been elected and ‘parliament’ having been effectively closed since Monday night, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar pointed the finger at opposition ‘MPs’ on Wednesday.

In particular, he lay the blame for the continuation of the deadlock at the feet of ‘deputy speaker’ and opposition party CTP ‘MP’ Fazilet Ozdenefe.

With lame duck ‘speaker’ Zorlu Tore first out of ‘parliament’ due to Tatar being out of the country and thus having to step in as ‘acting president’ and then later in hospital with an elevated blood pressure, Ozdenefe refused to acquiesce to the ‘government’s’ request to open ‘parliament’ with a view to allowing more votes on the ‘government’s’ nominee Kutlu Evren to take place.

Legal opinions, including those of retired former ‘auditor-general’ Emine Dizdarli, suggest that even if Ozdenefe had opened ‘parliament’, Evren would have been disqualified as a nominee.

This is because the maximum number of five votes had already taken place, with Tore having been rejected four times before Evren himself lost his vote. Additionally, Evren has already been rejected by 26 ‘MPs’, with internal regulations not allowing for any nominee who has been rejected by 26 or more of the north’s 50 ‘MPs’ to be nominated again.

Despite these legal opinions, Ozdenefe’s stance infuriated Tatar, who insisted she should have allowed the votes to go ahead.

“While I was abroad, Fazilet Ozdenefe was acting as speaker. She should have continued the votes which started on Monday over Kutlu Evren’s candidacy. This is her duty according to the constitution. She is now there by proxy due to Tore’s illness. She must continue the voting which was started,” he said.

“She must not abuse the authority given to her by the people and must fulfil her duty as prescribed by the constitution.”

The CTP had shortly before midnight on Tuesday put down a motion for the deadlock to be broken by the calling of ‘parliamentary’ elections for December 15, but Tatar was keen to stress his opposition to such an idea.

“This government has 29 MPs and has been serving for two and a half years. As the president, I am of the opinion that the country does not need early elections,” he said.

“When I look at the people, when I look at the reforms and the work which needs to be done, when I look at the point the Cyprus problem has reached, I am of the opinion that right now is not the time for elections.”

Tatar’s opposition to elections was shared by the leaders of all three ruling coalition party leaders, with ‘prime minister’ and UBP leader Unal Ustel giving a press conference at midnight to express his stance, while his deputy and DP leader Fikri Ataoglu and ‘transport minister’ and YDP leader Erhan Arikli made statements of their own on Wednesday.

However, thus far on Wednesday, the CTP has remained resolute in its stance that the ‘government’ had its chance to nominate a speaker on Monday, and with the ‘government’ insisting on attempting to nominate Evren again and not calling elections, the deadlock continues.