President’s Party Makes Strong Showing in Greek Cypriot Vote

Initial returns early today gave President Spryos Kyprianou’s embattled party unexpected strength in Sunday’s election for the Greek Cypriot Parliament.

The early election had been forced by the two main opposition parties, hoping to make Kyprianou resign or include Parliament in peace talks with the Turkish Cypriots on this divided Mediterranean island.

Election officials gave these results with 155 of the 662 polling districts reporting:

Kyprianou’s Diko Party 11,202 votes, or 31.5%; the rightist Democratic Rally Party 11,743, or 33%; the Communist Akel Party 8,595 votes, or 24%, and the socialist Edek Party 3,915 votes, or 11%.

In the previous 35-member Parliament, elected in 1981, Democratic Rally had 12 seats, Akel 11, Diko 3 and the Socialists 3, with the six others divided by smaller parties. The new Parliament has been expanded to 56 seats.

Leaders of the Democratic Rally and Communists had forced Kyprianou to dissolve Parliament last October and call the election that had been scheduled for next spring. They complained that Kyprianou erred in failing to sign a U.N.-sponsored agreement which would have led to reuniting the island nation.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish soldiers invaded the island after a failed coup intended to unite Cyprus with Greece. Turkish soldiers occupy the island’s northern third, which unilaterally declared itself a separate republic in November, 1983.

Last January, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash agreed to a draft statement prepared by U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar that called for reuniting the island.

But Kyprianou refused to sign, saying there were “gaps” in the statement on the geographic layout of an eventual federated state, the withdrawal of Turkish troops and the right of Greek Cypriots to return to their homes in the north.

Leaders of the Democratic Rally and Akel parties maintain that Kyprianou missed a “historic opportunity” by refusing to sign the agreement.