President Nikos Christodoulides on Sunday called on candidates standing in the forthcoming parliamentary elections to have “clear” positions, during a visit to a memorial service for Eoka fighters in the Troodos mountain village of Palaichori.

He firstly stressed that “the Cypriot people’s decision will be fully respected by the executive branch”, before pointing out that the three parties which support the government – Diko, Dipa, and Edek – did not have a majority of seats in the last parliament.

Regarding how his government will work with the new parliament after the election, he said that “we are constantly working … to arrive at positive results which, at the end of the day, help the Cypriot people, because the problems, the challenges the Cypriot people face, do not have an ideological colour”.

He then added that “with absolute respect for the Cypriot people’s choices, I consider, in my opinion, two facts to be very important”.

“Firstly, everyone has the right to demand votes from the Cypriot people, but I believe that at the same time, they must have a clear ideological and political framework, whatever that may be, with absolute respect for how they will manage it or how they will position themselves,” he said.

He added that he believes this because “parliament … is not an executive power, it is a legislative power” and that as such, “a clear ideological and political framework from all those who demand votes from the Cypriot people, I believe, is the least they owe to the Cypriot people”.

“The second thing I would like to mention is that I hope that in the time remaining until the parliamentary elections, we will see positions, clear positions and approaches, which concern people’s daily lives, the country’s major issues, the Cyprus problem foreign policy, our relations with neighbouring states, internal issues,” he said.

This, too, he added “is a minimum sign of respect towards the Cypriot people, from whom their vote is being sought, demanded, for there to be clear positions, whatever there may be”.

“I will not comment on the positions themselves, I will not take a position on the approaches of the parties or the candidates, but it is very important that these positions are clear and known to everyone,” he said.

Of the 56 seats which will be up for election later this month,19 will belong to MPs from the Nicosia district, 12 to MPs from the Limassol district, 11 to MPs from the Famagusta district, six to MPs from the Larnaca district, five to MPs from the Paphos district, and three to MPs from the Kyrenia district.

The Paphos district gained an extra seat ahead of May’s election due to the growth in its voting population, with that gain coming at the Nicosia district’s expense.

The Republic of Cyprus’ constitution initially foresaw a parliament with 50 voting members, of whom 35 would be Greek Cypriots and 15 would be Turkish Cypriots, as well as non-voting observers belonging to the Armenian, Latin, and Maronite communities.

Following the breakdown of constitutional order and the outbreak of intercommunal violence in 1963, the Turkish Cypriots were unable to return to their seats in parliament, leaving just 35 voting members.

That figure was raised to 56 Greek Cypriots ahead of the 1985 parliamentary elections after the constitution was altered using the doctrine of necessity. The amendment foresees 24 Turkish Cypriots also being elected, but with the Cyprus problem remaining unsolved, this has not yet happened.