Erdogan calls for early general election
Erdogan calls for early general election
By Vincent Boland in Ankara
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 1 2007 19:06 | Last updated: May 2 2007 13:20
Turkey’s ruling AK Party proposed on Wednesday bringing forward a parliamentary election to June 24 to ease tensions after an increasingly bitter standoff between the Islamist-rooted government and the secular elite.
Turkey’s prime minister said on Tuesday night he would seek an early general election in an attempt to break a political deadlock after a court annulled the first round of voting for a new president.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking after a government meeting, said he would advocate sweeping changes to the constitution that could see voters directly choosing a new president at the same time as the general election.
His comments followed the constitutional court’s decision to annul a parliamentary vote on appointing Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, as president. Mr Gul’s candidacy provoked a threat from the military to intervene to block him because of his links to Turkey’s Islamist movement, initiating the most serious clash between the army and politicians in a decade.
Mr Erdogan said: “If this parliament cannot elect the president, we will take the issue to the nation and begin electing the president by popular vote.”
Seeking to end days of political turmoil which have seen the stock market tumble nearly 10 per cent, Mr Erdogan said he had reassured the European Union – which Turkey is seeking to join and which has been watching events in Ankara with growing concern – that the country would “return to a normal democratic process” with an election.
However, he refused to withdraw Mr Gul’s candidacy for the presidency and said another attempt would be made on Thursday to hold a parliamentary vote – although it is set to be blocked by an opposition boycott. Mr Gul failed to win approval from MPs last Friday. The opposition nonetheless appealed to the constitutional court, Turkey’s highest legal body, to have the vote annulled because a quorum of two thirds of parliament’s 550 MPs was not present. The court upheld the appeal.
Mr Erdogan’s call for an early general election sets the stage for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government, which has its roots in political Islam, and the country’s secular movement, led by the military.
The army has ousted four elected governments in Turkey in 50 years and the call for constitutional change could trigger a fierce political fight.
By Vincent Boland in Ankara
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 1 2007 19:06 | Last updated: May 2 2007 13:20
Turkey’s ruling AK Party proposed on Wednesday bringing forward a parliamentary election to June 24 to ease tensions after an increasingly bitter standoff between the Islamist-rooted government and the secular elite.
Turkey’s prime minister said on Tuesday night he would seek an early general election in an attempt to break a political deadlock after a court annulled the first round of voting for a new president.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking after a government meeting, said he would advocate sweeping changes to the constitution that could see voters directly choosing a new president at the same time as the general election.
His comments followed the constitutional court’s decision to annul a parliamentary vote on appointing Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, as president. Mr Gul’s candidacy provoked a threat from the military to intervene to block him because of his links to Turkey’s Islamist movement, initiating the most serious clash between the army and politicians in a decade.
Mr Erdogan said: “If this parliament cannot elect the president, we will take the issue to the nation and begin electing the president by popular vote.”
Seeking to end days of political turmoil which have seen the stock market tumble nearly 10 per cent, Mr Erdogan said he had reassured the European Union – which Turkey is seeking to join and which has been watching events in Ankara with growing concern – that the country would “return to a normal democratic process” with an election.
However, he refused to withdraw Mr Gul’s candidacy for the presidency and said another attempt would be made on Thursday to hold a parliamentary vote – although it is set to be blocked by an opposition boycott. Mr Gul failed to win approval from MPs last Friday. The opposition nonetheless appealed to the constitutional court, Turkey’s highest legal body, to have the vote annulled because a quorum of two thirds of parliament’s 550 MPs was not present. The court upheld the appeal.
Mr Erdogan’s call for an early general election sets the stage for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government, which has its roots in political Islam, and the country’s secular movement, led by the military.
The army has ousted four elected governments in Turkey in 50 years and the call for constitutional change could trigger a fierce political fight.
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