Turkish politics are in turmoil once again, as both the governing coalition of AKP-MHP and two leading opposition parties are rattled by discord.
Turkey’s ruling alliance member Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on Nov. 21 expressed his support for maintaining the absolute majority requirement in presidential elections. The support followed President Erdoğan’s call to switch to a simple majority requirement.
After Turkey’s closely contested duals election in May, which Erdogan and his AKP-MHP alliance won despite most polls predicting the opposite, main opposition party CHP was the first to seek redemption, with its long-serving leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu being replaced by Change Movement candidate Ozgur Ozel. The second largest party in the 6-party opposition coalition, IYI Party has been roiled in embezzlement and sexual misconduct scandals, shedding three deputies in the short span of two week. More resignations are expected. Now, the discord spreads to AKP-MHP.
AKP-MHP tensions began when President Erdoğan suggested a change to the presidential election model which requires that a candidate must obtain at least 50 percent plus one vote of the electors.
Erdoğan did not detail his proposal but said those who get the most votes in the presidential elections should be elected as the president, referring to May polls in which he got 49.5 percent in the first round but could not be elected. He got elected in the second round which was held 15 days after the first round.
His ally Bahçeli praised the presidential system Turkey switched to by plebiscite in 2018 and stated it was a necessary feature of the republic in its new century.
He added that any shortcomings of the presidential system should be revised, but opening its fundamental democratic features to debate could lead to unpredictable problems.
“We are not electing deputies, mayors, or mukhtars (village and neighborhood alderman). We are electing the president,” Bahçeli said, drawing attention to the importance of the position and the necessity of an absolute majority requirement.
He added that a president should “represent the whole of the nation. Electing the president with 50%+1 of the votes is a form of pluralistic democracy that will set an example for the world.”
The MHP’s staunch stance on the presidential system and the absolute majority requirement in presidential elections remained constant over the years, according to Bahçeli. However, “the party believes modifying the system through collaboration and mutual understanding is possible,” he added.
Bahçeli also addressed the reporters who have interpreted President Erdoğan’s proposal as a way to “get rid of” Bahçeli and the MHP. “The attempts to insinuate a conflict between the AKP and MHP are despicable and vile,” he said. Opposition commentators claim Erdogan is seeking a way to be eligible for presidency for a third term, which will require a constitutional amendment. AKP-MHP fall 39 votes short of adopting such an amendment. Erdogan could form an alliance with other parties in return for unspecified confessions, but all these parties are antagonistic, to MHP, led by the third largest bloc, the pro-Kurdish HEDEP.
The absolute majority requirement seeks more than 50% of the votes to elect Turkey’s president. In the case no candidate obtains the votes necessary, the second round takes place with the top two candidates running.
In the first round of the 2023 presidential elections, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan garnered 49.24% of the votes, and main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu remained at 45.07%.
The two candidates faced off in the runoff election on May 28, where Erdoğan received 52.18% of votes and was reelected as Turkey’s President.
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