House of Representatives (Cyprus) facts for kids
The House of Representatives is like the main decision-making group, or parliament, for the Republic of Cyprus. It's where elected people meet to make laws and discuss important issues for the country. In Greek, it's called Greek: Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων (Voulī́ tōn Antiprosṓpōn), and in Turkish, it's Turkish: Temsilciler Meclisi.
Members of the House of Representatives are chosen by the people through elections every five years. They use a system called proportional representation. This means that the number of seats a political party gets in the House is roughly equal to the percentage of votes they received in the election. For example, if a party gets 30% of the votes, they get about 30% of the seats.
A special rule sets aside 30% of the seats for the Turkish Cypriot community. However, these seats have been empty since 1964 due to past disagreements.
Leaders of the House of Representatives
The person in charge of the House of Representatives is called the President. They lead the meetings and make sure everything runs smoothly. Here are some of the people who have been President of the House:
- Glafkos Klerides: August 1960 – July 22, 1976
- Tassos Papadopoulos: July 22, 1976 – September 20, 1976
- Spyros Kyprianou: September 20, 1976 – September, 1977
- Alekos Michaelides: September, 1977 – June 4, 1981
- Georgios Ladas: June 4, 1981 – December 30, 1985
- Vassos Lyssaridis: December 30, 1985 – May 30, 1991
- Alexis Galanos: May 30, 1991 – June 6, 1996
- Spyros Kyprianou: June 6, 1996 – June 7, 2001
- Dimitris Christofias: June 7, 2001 – February 28, 2008
- Marios Karoyian: March 7, 2008 – June 2, 2011
- Yiannakis Omirou: June 2, 2011 – June 2, 2016
- Demetris Syllouris: June 2, 2016 – present
Images for kids
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A robot, symbolizing technology and the future.
