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| - Cypriots go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, as public anger simmers over the "golden passports" corruption scandal and ultra-nationalists look to exploit the anti-establishment mood. The conservative DISY party is expected to remain the largest in parliament but again without a majority, forcing President Nicos Anastasiades to continue to rule through a minority government. In a lacklustre campaign, migration has been an issue in the European Union's most easterly member state and it too has been played on by the far right. "There is a very unhappy electorate fed up with the political elite and parliament; people are fed up with corruption in public life," said Hubert Faustmann, professor of history and political science at the University of Nicosia. Last November, the Mediterranean island dropped its controversial passport-for-investment scheme after Al Jazeera aired a documentary showing reporters posing as fixers for a Chinese businessman seeking a Cypriot passport despite having a criminal record. Parliament was at the centre of the furore after speaker Demetris Syllouris and an opposition MP were secretly filmed allegedly trying to facilitate a passport for the fugitive investor. They later resigned, although both insisted they were innocent of any wrongdoing. Faustmann said that without a credible leader or party to articulate the protest vote, it would manifest itself in low turnout or be exploited by the ultra-nationalist ELAM party. ELAM, which originated as an offshoot of Greece's controversial Golden Dawn party, broke into the 56-seat parliament in 2016 with two MPs and is looking to significantly improve on that score in this election. "The only party that will grow is ELAM; it's an angry protest vote. They hope to profit from the migrant issue and corruption," Faustmann told AFP. The government has warned the European Union Cyprus is in a "state of emergency" due to migrant streams from Syria. The island has the highest per capita number of first-time asylum seekers in the 27-member bloc, according to the Eurostat statistics agency. Unusually for Cyprus, the decades-old division between the island's Greek and Turkish communities has played little part in this year's election campaign. The last round of UN-backed reunification talks collapsed in acrimony in 2017 and a UN summit in Geneva last month failed to reach an agreement on resuming talks. "The Cyprus problem is dead, and parliament doesn't play a big role, and it's not about Covid as the government has done well with vaccinations," said Faustmann. The government aims to vaccinate 65 percent of the population with at least one dose by the end of June and a nightly curfew in force for the past seven months is to be lifted from June 10 following a fall in new infections. Cyprus has an executive system of government with the president elected separately, but the vote will gauge the popularity of Anastasiades, whose term expires in 2023. Analyst Fiona Mullen too believes that corruption is the buzz issue. "This election has been mainly fought over corruption allegations, which has also increased voter apathy, and it looks like the far-right ELAM and the Greens will benefit the most from that," Mullen told AFP. She believes that ruling DISY will still be the largest party, "but it will again rule as a minority government". The communist AKEL will remain the main opposition party. The new parliament will be tasked with pushing through green, digital and justice reforms required by the EU for receiving around 1.4 billion euros in Recovery and Resilience Facility funds. "So, I think we are going to see a lot of battles in parliament. The Cyprus problem will take a back seat," said Mullen. Women are set to remain heavily underrepresented in parliament, although there has been a slight improvement in recent years. The current parliament has just 11 women among its 56 members, a record high for the island. Of the 651 candidates standing on Sunday, 157 are women. As usual, the election will be limited to government-held areas, excluding the northern third of the island where a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state holds sway. Only 712 Turkish Cypriots resident in the government-controlled south are registered to vote. cc/kir
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