Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar on Saturday gave the head of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) a mandate to form a new government.
Tatar said he has assigned Tufan Erhuman to form the new government.
Erhüman said there was a possibility for more than one coalition and he would try to form a government capable of finding solutions to problems faced by the TRNC residents.
"We will meet with all political parties," he told reporters after a meeting with Tatar.
The support of 26 deputies is required for the establishment of a government in the TRNC's Assembly of the Republic, which consists of 50 seats.
National Unity Party (MBP) head Ersan Saner had failed to form a government, the country's president said Saturday.
Last month, Tatar became the fifth president of the TRNC by winning the presidential elections with 51.74% of the votes against rival Mustafa Akıncı, who received 48.26%.
Akıncı, the fourth president of the TRNC and in office since 2015, supports a federalist solution on the island of Cyprus in line with the United Nations initiatives, and such a resolution could be efficient in solving other regional problems too, particularly tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Tatar, on the other hand, seeks a two-state outcome, expressing a stance more in line with that of Ankara, compared with Akıncı and Erhürman.
Although he does not directly oppose a federalist solution, Tatar believes that tying hopes to such a plan is not realistic, considering the TRNC's complex past with the Greek Cypriot administration.
The island of Cyprus has been divided into a Turkish Cypriot government in the north and a Greek Cypriot administration in the south since a 1974 military coup aimed at Cyprus' annexation by Greece. Turkey's military intervention stopped yearslong persecution and violence against Turkish Cypriots by ultra-nationalist Greek Cypriots.
The TRNC was established in 1983 on the northern tier of the island and is only recognized by Turkey. The country has faced an ongoing embargo on commerce, transportation and culture ever since.
