Nicosia, Cyprus. Almost half the electorate will not be represented in the new parliament after abstaining or voting for parties that failed to win seats, an analyst said on Tuesday.
Democratic deficit
In comments to the Cyprus News Agency, Vasiliki Triga, associate professor at the Cyprus University of Technology, said the result points to a “democratic deficit” and a growing trend of abstention.
She said abstention reflects both disaffection with the available options and, on the positive side, a public that is more informed and demanding of the political process and system.
Triga said the election result shows that political narrative and ideology remain important to many voters who, not finding them, chose not to take part.
“You can’t run in elections for the legislature and not have an ideology. You can’t just rely on populist rhetoric to attract people. It turns out the public are far more critical and more progressive than the parties themselves,” she said.
Election figures
In Sunday’s parliamentary elections, the abstention rate was 33 per cent, with 188,391 registered voters choosing not to participate.
Of the 569,182 people on the electoral roll, 380,851 voted and 372,060 valid ballots were cast.
The parties that won seats in parliament received 309,438 votes, while parties and candidates that failed to enter the legislature secured 62,622 votes.
Overall, 54.3 per cent of registered voters will have a voice in the new parliament.