Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel told members of his party the UBP who work in the north’s public sector to ensure that polling stations are staffed with supporters of incumbent Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar when elections are held on October 19.
“Here, our friends who are ministers, our friends who are MPs, our friends who are directors of institutions, please put forward civil servants who or our friends, people close to us, to ensure trust at the ballot boxes,” he said at a party meeting over the weekend.
He added that he was making this suggestion “because institutions are important”, and that as such, public officials must “put forward as many people who are close to us as possible, as many people who think like us as possible”.
At the same meeting, he promised that both the ruling coalition and Tatar would help supporters of his who are trying to get public service jobs.
“Let them pass the written exam, and we, together with the president, will help them with the oral exam. The children who take the civil service exam can start the written exam themselves, and we, alongside our president, will give them all the support we can for the oral exam,” he said.
Footage of the meeting was widely shared on social media, with the opposition incensed.
Erkut Sahali, the secretary-general of opposition party the CTP, the party to which election candidate Tufan Erhurman belongs, was among the first to react, and pointed out that Tatar was sat next to Ustel when he made the statements.
“Another shameful attempt to cast a shadow over the October 19 elections has been exposed. It has been revealed that Unal Ustel gave instructions to organise fraud at the ballot box committees. [Tatar], however, chose to remain silent,” he said.
He criticised Ustel’s use of the phrase “as many people who are close to us as possible”, saying that the UBP “knows this phrase by heart”.
“This mentality has been directed at ‘those closest to us’, their own narrow circles, in employment, taxi operation permits, and the partisan distribution of other public benefits. They see this country as their own and those closest to them,” he said.
“This is not just fraud, it is an organised attack on the will of the people, our democracy, and our future. We have witnessed their dirty hands reaching for the ballot box, and we warn them: we will never allow you to steal the free will of the people!”
He as such called on the north’s supreme electoral council (YSK), the body which oversees elections, to ensure that those selected to work at polling stations on October 19 are chosen “with the utmost care”.
“The election process must be conducted more transparently and fairly than ever, and not even the slightest doubt in the process can be ignored. We are fighting to ensure that the will of the people is freely reflected at the ballot box, because democracy is protected not by diktats, but by courage,” he said.
The YSK then came out and made a statement of its own, saying that those chosen to work at polling stations – three per station – are “chosen from among voters or public officials who are known for their good reputation”.
It added that district election boards, which choose those who work at the poling stations, are “meticulous” in their choices, and that they typically choose “individuals who have served in the past and who have no political affiliation”.
Erhurman, meanwhile, chose to focus on Ustel’s comments on civil service exams, and the “help” promised to supporters of the ruling coalition.
“The moment you say this, you undermine trust in the civil service commission,” Erhurman said, referring to the institution in the north which runs the exams.
“You destroy our children’s faith that they will be evaluated fairly. Then, our children will say, ‘there is no justice in this country’. They say, ‘I do not want to live in this country’. Then, these people, our youth, will lose all respect and faith in our institutions, let alone any pride in them,” he said.
He then promised that if he is elected, “merit, justice, and equality will be decisive” and that “no one’s rights will be violated, and this people will once again trust itself, its country, and its institutions”.
“This people will once again be proud of itself,” he said.
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