Erdogan wins absolute majority, but not enough to change Constitution
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – With almost 99,01% of votes counted, the AKP party of the Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, has managed to regain an absolute majority in parliament with 49.4% of votes in yesterday’s election in Turkey.
As a result, the AKP has 316 MPs out of 550, while in June, in the previous consultation, it had only 258. An absolute majority, but insufficient to achieve the presidential reform wanted by Erdogan.
Yesterday's elections were the result of the AKP’s inability to form a coalition government from the outcome of recent elections held on June 7, 2015, in which Erdogan's party had lost its decade long majority of parliamentary seats, obtaining only 40.87% of the votes.
The other parties yesterday received the following percentages and seats: the CHP of secular Kemalist extraction, 25.4% and 135 seats (in the elections of June 7, it won 24,95 and 132 seats); the right-wing MHP party, 11.9% and 59 seats (in the June elections had obtained 16,29 and 80 seats); the Kurdish HDP, 10.7% and 41 seats (in the elections of June had obtained 13,12 and 80 seats).
A first consideration is that the real loser in these elections, is the nationalist MHP party, as well as the pro Kurdish HDP.
Evidently the campaign, led by the AKP in an climate of intimidation as reported by both Turkish media and international, and the exasperation of the Kurdish threat, created an extreme polarization which boosted the president's party.
Even President Tayyip Erdogan, breaking the fundamental rule imposes impartiality on the president intervened publically on the 'importance of victory for his party.
This result now gives the possibility to the outgoing Prime Minister Davutoglu to form a majority government, but does not give him a chance to reform the Turkish constitution, according to a model of absolute presidentialism, neither through parliament, where 2/3 of MPs ( that is, 367) is needed nor by referendum, it where a vote of 331 MPs is required.
The outgoing Turkish prime minister Davutoglu commented on is the election results: This is a great victory for Turkish democracy and the Turkish people and gives his party the chance to rule until 2019.
However, the climate in in the southeast of the country, especially in Diyarbakir is quite the opposite, where at the announcement of the reduction of the pro-Kurdish HDP, clashes erupted between police and young Kurds.
So after these tense elections, the party of the president, is the same Erdogna, is called to show that it can manage several hot potatoes according to the rules of Western parliamentary democracy.
First of all, respect for democratic rules and the Kurdish question.
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06/02/2018 15:09
