The Republic of Cyprus was established in 1960 as an independent and sovereign Republic with a presidential system of government. Under the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, which is governed by the principle of separation of powers, the executive power is ensured and exercised jointly by the Greek Cypriot President and the Turkish Cypriot Vice-President of the Republic, through a Council of Ministers appointed by them (seven and three Ministers respectively).

In 1964, the Turkish Cypriot Vice-President and the three Turkish Cypriot ministers withdrew from government, and since then the government has been functioning by necessity only with Greek Cypriots in all ministries, which have been subsequently increased to eleven. The post of Vice-President remains vacant.

Consequently, under the Law of Necessity, the President of the Republic appoints eleven Ministers, who constitute the Council of Ministers of the state, and, with the exception of the guarded and explicitly defined, by the Constitution, powers of the President and the Vice-President of the Republic, exercise the state’s executive power. Furthermore, the Constitution grants power to the President of the Republic to appoint the independent state officials and the judges of the Supreme Court. Moreover, the President of the Republic has the authority, according to the provisions of the relevant national legislation, to appoint Deputy Ministers.

According to the Constitution, the President of the Republic is the Head of the State, takes precedence over all persons in the Republic and is elected directly, by universal suffrage and secret ballot for a five-year term. In the last presidential elections (February 2023), Mr Nikos Christodoulides was elected President of the Republic.

The powers and competences of the President of the Republic are defined in the Constitution. Amongst the most significant powers vested in the President of the Republic are the entry into force of the legislation passed by the House of Representatives or the right of final veto on laws passed by the House concerning matters pertaining to foreign affairs, defence and security, the right of return of such laws to the legislature, as well as the right of reference to the Supreme Court for constitutional review of such laws. In addition, the President convenes the meetings of the Council of Ministers and sets the agenda for such meetings, while he also has the right of final veto on its decisions concerning foreign affairs, defence and security, and the right to return such decisions to the Council of Ministers..