TURKEY-POLITICS/ELECTIONS Turkey's election board proposes Nov. 1 as date for snap polls

Record ID: 143297

  • Title: TURKEY-POLITICS/ELECTIONS Turkey's election board proposes Nov. 1 as date for snap polls
  • Date: 20th August 2015
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAN CASTING HIS VOTE VARIOUS OF BALLOT PAPERS
  • Embargoed: 4th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA43E5RTHNWXV0ZV513OCZPGDX8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Turkey's High Election Board has proposed November 1 as a date for possible snap parliamentary elections, ruling AK Party officials said on Thursday (August 20), paving the way for a break in a political deadlock after the collapse of coalition talks.
    Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu formally ended attempts to find a junior coalition partner on Tuesday (August 18), more than two months after the last vote, handing the mandate back to President Tayyip Erdogan and making a fresh election almost inevitable.
    A senior journalist and political analyst, Deniz Zeyrek, expects the preparations to start immediately after a deadline to form a government formally expires on August 23.
    "If the political parties agree on a certain date, preparations will immediately start after August 24th. A government will be formed, a caretaker government and High Election Board will proceed with the electoral calendar," said Zeyrek, the Ankara Representative of the Hurriyet Newspaper.
    "The president will most probably give the mandate (to form an electoral government) to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Normally, the electoral government should be composed of 11 ministers from (the ruling) AK Party, 6 from CHP, 4 from MHP, 4 from pro-Kurdish HDP (People's Democratic Party). It should include three independent ministers as well, but opposition CHP (Republican People's Party) and MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) parties already declared they will not be a part of an electoral government. Therefore, the Prime Minister will choose the candidates for 10 ministries," he added.
    The political uncertainty, coupled with a surge in militant conflict, has shattered investor confidence and, early on Thursday, sent the Turkish lira to a record low of 3.0 against the dollar - a plunge of some 22 percent so far this year.
    Erdogan said on Wednesday (August 19) Turkey was heading rapidly towards a new election and only the "will of the people" can resolve the political impasse.
    The AK Party, which Erdogan founded, in June suffered its biggest election setback since coming to power in 2002, failing to win a single-party majority for the first time.
    Erdogan, founder of the AKP, could still in theory ask the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to try to form a government.
    However, the CHP has shown little sign of being able to assemble a majority, and local media quoted Erdogan as telling a meeting of village administrators that he would not "waste time" with those who did not know the address of the presidential palace, an apparent reference to the head of the CHP.
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