Legislative elections were held in Cyprus on 6, 7 and 8 June 1883. They were the first elections to the newly established Legislative Council.
Background
The Legislative Council was formed in 1882, and consisted of six official members appointed by the High Commissioner and twelve elected members,[1] three of which were Muslims and nine of which were non-Muslims.[2]
Electoral system
The island was divided into three constituencies, each formed of two districts.[1] Each constituency elected one Muslim and three non-Muslims. Muslim voters had one vote, whilst non-Muslims could vote for up to three candidates.[3] Due to the high levels of illiteracy, voting was not secret, with voters required to tell the polling officers their candidates of choice, which they were required to do in front of the candidates or their agents.[3]
Suffrage was limited to men aged over 21 who had been permanent residents during the five years prior to the election, and had paid either the verghi tax (which was levied as an annual payment of one four-thousandth of a property's value, 4% of rental income or 3% on profits or salaries) or rent for a dwelling or shop within the last year.[1][3] However, of the estimated 40,000 taxpayers in the territory at the time of the elections, only those that had been able to pay their taxes on time were able to register to vote.[4] A total of 21,073 voters were registered, of which 16,727 were Greek.[5]
The Limassol–Paphos constituency was contested by eight non-Muslim candidates; Christodoulos Karydis (Mayor of Limassol), Georgios Loukas (a teacher), Georgios Malikides (a trader), Christodoulos Modinos, Dimitrios Nikolaidis (a trader), Tourmousis Paschalidis (a trader), Dimosthenis Pilavakis (a landowner) and Kyprianos Economides, who was also running in Larnaca–Famagusta.[7]
In Nicosia–Kyrenia, six non-Muslim candidates contested the three seats; Efstathios Constantinides (a professor), Paschalis Constantinides (a lawyer and money lender, and brother of Efstathios), Grigorios Dimitriadis (a landowner), Ioannis Pavlidis (a teacher), Michalis Siakallis (a grain dealer), and Richardos Matei, who was also running in Larnaca–Famagusta. Although the Governor of Nicosia had pointed out to the Registrar that Matei was not registered to vote and could not be a candidate, his nomination was accepted.[7]
Kyprianos Economides (Bishop of Kition), was elected in both Larnaca–Famagusta and Limassol–Paphos. He informed the High Commissioner that he intended to keep his Larnaca–Famagusta. A by-election was subsequently arranged for 17 July, which was contested by Dimostheni Chatzipavlou, Michail Efthyvoulos and Georgios Loukas, a losing candidate from the original elections. Chatzipavlou was elected with 1,172 votes to 231 for Efthyvoulos and 45 for Loukas; voter turnout was just 24.6%.[9]
Michalis Siakallis died within a year of the election, and a by-election was held in the Nicosia–Kyrenia on 4 March. Ioannis Pavlidis, who had finished fifth in the 1883 elections, was elected with 505 votes, defeating Nikolaos
Róssos (429 votes) and Theodoulos Konstantinidis (85). Voter turnout was only 16.1% of the 6,324 electorate.[9]
Limassol–Paphos representative Dimostheni Chatzipavlou resigned from the Council in 1884. In the by-election on 5 November, Dimitris Pieridis was elected with 820 votes, defeating Ioannis Karemfylakis (175 votes). Voter turnout was 15.6% of the 6,533 electorate.[9]
The final by-election of the Council's first term was held on 24 December 1885 following the resignation of Pieridis. Socrates Fragoudis was elected with 686 votes, defeating Karemfylaki (60 votes). Voter turnout was 15.4% of the 4,849 electorate.[9]
^Verzameling Britse rapporten, verslagen en andere stukken betreffende staatsadministratieve, juridische onderwerpen betrekking hebbende op Cyprus, Volume 1, p14
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