DAILY OPINIONS

The Erdoğan-Bahçeli alliance looking for ways to stay in power even if they lose the majority in parliament

It seems that this is one of the issues to be discussed in the General Assembly of the Parliament that will commence in June, with changes to be made to political party and electoral laws.  

Chairman of MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), Devlet Bahçeli, called for “immediate amendments” to the electoral and political party laws on 14 May. 

Chairman of CHP (Republican People’s Party), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, said that if it comes to a ‘forced election’1, they could support an alliance with the Future Party (GELECEK2) and the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA3) so that they can participate in the elections. Using this as an excuse, Bahçeli revealed a 6-point packet, the first two being:
 
The immediate amendment of the law regarding political parties, and making necessary adjustments in the electoral code.

Although the AKP (Justice and Development Party) wing initially said “We have no such agenda”, as it has happened so many times in the last few years, this has come to “This issue is also our agenda” and even “We are working on this issue” within just a few days.

And it seems that this is one of the issues to be discussed in the General Assembly of the Parliament that will commence in June, with changes to be made to political party and electoral laws.  

BAHÇELİ THREW A LIFE JACKET TO AKP

Back in the day, "I’ll go into the election, huh!" was used by the AKP to scare opposition, as well as, creating a feeling in the public that “AKP will not go into an election that it cannot win”. Whereas now, they are a party that uses tricks in elections, having difficulty with accepting the results and even fearing elections.

Therefore, the speech made by Bahçeli seems to have become a lifeline for the AKP. Especially at a time when in political backstage there are claims that about 40 MPs will leave AKP and move to the Future Party and Deva Party!

In the statements made by AKP, they are told to be working on ways to make “unethical” attempts like “MP transfer”, in other words, MPs joining parties that they were not elected in, harder.
 
If we consider the discussion in the media and in the political backstage, whether there will be an early election or not, the fact AKP still could not digest the blow it received in the location elections, and last but not least, the one-man one-party governance, then it nothing but excessive goodwill to think that the changes in the laws regarding election and political parties will be confined to the rhetoric of government spokespersons. On the contrary, it would be more realistic to say that the AKP-MHP alliance is working on formulas that could keep them in power forever.

Here, of course, we must ask: Is the help of legal amendments enough for the AKP and MHP alliance to still win in an election? Even in today’s antidemocratic system their total share of votes is far below 50 percent, and it seems it may even further decrease below 40. Given the fact that these two parties and their one-man administrations do not have any democratic norms or concerns regarding justice, it is no longer a realistic approach to put forward a justification that “with such democratic concerns, they cannot and will not make such arrangements.”

Bahçeli, introducing the "package", clearly stated his motive: "CHP-İP-HDP-FETÖ-PKK, and other political defects that support and accompany them, will certainly not exceed the celebrated will of the People’s Alliance (AKP-MHP)."

THE AKP GOVERNMENT HAS NOT HELD A SINGLE ELECTION IN FIVE YEARS THAT WAS NOT QUESTIONABLE OR HAS NOT SPARKED WIDE OBJECTION

The 7 June 2015 election, the 1 November 2015 election, the 16 April 2017 referendum, the 24 June 2018 presidential and parliamentary election, and finally the 31 March 2019 local election… All of these elections were ‘dubious’ or their results were with objections from the government – in some cases going further by meddling with the results. The only exception being the Istanbul Mayoral election on the 31 March 2019, which they repeated.

The facts behind the five-year election chart show that the AKP-MHP alliance cannot win an election under normal circumstances. When government has attempted to change the election results by scraping them or used state resources as party resources, it was met with public reactions, going beyond opposition parties, thereby making it more difficult for them.  

This is why the AKP-MHP alliance wants to regulate the laws so it suits their own interest, increase the opportunities for intervention in the election process and ensuring that the results are in its favour. Thus, Erdogan and his partners aim to push those who object to the results into position that contradicts the law. Therefore, the government aims not only to limit the MPs’ ability to switch party, but also to make arrangements that would eliminate the people's votes.

IT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE MASSES TO BE DRAWN TO POLITICS 

The picture we described above and the facts behind it show that it is not enough to express how antidemocratic, how dismissive of rights and laws, and how unfair the government initiatives are. For the government does not have such concerns. The 7 June elections along with the subsequent developments, the most recent local elections, and later the Istanbul election have shown how effective it is for the public to take a direct role in politics; When this did not happen, it meant that there was no obstacle to stop these practices of the government.

Therefore, it is very important to expose the intention and purpose of the power in the parliament and among the masses in the struggle to amend the law regarding political parties and the electoral code. But the intervention of democratic forces, political parties, unions, labour organizations, and all segments against one-man rule by mobilizing the people is even more important. To the extent that this has been achieved, a set can be drawn to the recklessness, arbitrariness, and antidemocratic practices of the AKP-MHP alliance.

1- Forced election – Early elections planned in order to surprise the opposition and put them at a disadvantage. 
2- GELECEK Party was founded by Ahmet Davutoğlu, a former foreign minister and prime minister on behalf of the AKP. Having been elected prime minister on 28 August 2014 with the support of President Tayyip Erdoğan, Davutoğlu later opposed the latter's moves to transform Turkey's form of government from a parliamentary to a presidential system. His conflict with Erdoğan culminated in Davutoğlu's resignation from the premiership, effective from 22 May 2016. Following his resignation, Davutoğlu frequently criticized the AKP government, which led the party to launch disciplinary actions against him. In response, he resigned from the AKP. Founding members of GELECEK Party include numerous former AKP officials and affiliates.
3- DEVA Party is a political party in Turkey formed by former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan. After its foundation, the party is represented with one seat in the Grand National Assembly, as MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu is one of its founders. The founders of the party include MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu, former Minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin, former Balıkesir mayor Ahmet Edip Uğur, former Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Nihat Ergün and former Minister of State Selma Aliye Kavaf. All these names resigned from AKP.


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