President Mustafa Akıncı on Wednesday raised the possibility of bringing forward the date of the presidential elections in the north to August instead of October as currently scheduled.
Speaking to BRT, Akıncı said that there had been no new cases of Covid-19 in the past 61 days in North Cyprus. He said he would propose to the political parties on Friday, bringing forward the election date.
The presidential elections were initially to take place last April but were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the first round of elections could take place on August 16 and the second one on August 23.
Akıncı added that because there was a possibility of a new wave of infections in the autumn, it would be better to hold the elections in the summer.
He reminded that the proposal to postpone the elections had been brought to him and was decided at a joint meeting of the political parties in parliament.
Akıncı also stated that he did not find the government’s decisions regarding opening the borders to south Cyprus and arrivals into North Cyprus on July 1 correct. Emphasising that these should be supported with the recommendations of the health sciences committees when making economic decisions, Akıncı said that otherwise these decisions taken would be political decisions, made without any scientific basis.
BRT
