1959 Cypriot presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Cyprus for the first time on 13 December 1959.[1] Only two candidates contested the election; Makarios III, who was backed by EOKA and Ioannis Clerides, a member of the Democratic Union,[2] who was also supported by AKEL.[3] The result was a victory for Makarios III, who won 66.8% of the vote, although he did not take office until 16 August 1960.[4] Voter turnout was 91.2%.[3]

A separate election for Vice President of Cyprus took place. Fazıl Küçük was the only candidate, and was elected unopposed.[2]

Electoral system

The elections were held using a two-round system; if no candidate received over 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round was to be held between the top two candidates. The constitution required the President of Cyprus to be a Greek Cypriot and the Vice-President to be a Turkish Cypriot. Greek Cypriots elected the President and Turkish Cypriots elected the Vice-President.[5]

Results

Candidate	Votes	%
Makarios III	144,501	66.8
Ioannis Clerides	71,753	33.2
Invalid/blank votes	1,702	–
Total	217,956	100
Registered voters/turnout	238,879	91.2
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p438 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Marshall William Conley (1967) Political Community and Social Conflict: Cyprus
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p445
4. Nohlen & Stöver, p430
5. The Elections (President and Vice-President) of the Republic laws 1959 to 2017 Legislation Online