Thank God we only have a week to go before the polls

Everything in the country has come to a standstill from the bureaucracy, to the production and services for the eve of the June 7 parliamentary elections.

Some people are openly waiting for the election results before they make any moves, while others are simply exploiting the situation.

Let us hope once the elections are completed and the results are out that the Parliament will start functioning swiftly with the newly elected deputies, the taking of oaths, and the Parliament establishing its speakership council. Meanwhile, the new government has to be formed and receive a vote of confidence. That means the Parliament which would have normally gone to recess on July 1, will have to stay open for at least two more weeks.

Once all the political formalities are over, the new government can sit and attend to the issues of the country which need urgent attention.

Yes, the current government of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is doing its best to tend to the problems and issues of Turkey, but clearly it is distracted with the elections campaign. Meanwhile, serious problems are blooming both at home and abroad.

The fact that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is wreaking havoc again in Iraq and Syria, just at a time when people believed the extremists had been defeated and the reality that the central government in Iraq has proven too weak and incapable of handling the security situation, thus losing the Anbar province, needs the urgent attention of the government in Ankara. The plight of Syria is no better than Iraq, which also needs our attention.

The fact that Iran is making amends with the West is creating a brand new situation in our region which also needs our urgent attention, as well as the recent alarming situation where Arab Shiites caused problems in Saudi Arabia.

The fact that we have to seriously review and revitalize our relations with the West and with the United States in particular, is also something the new government needs to attend to.

We have to set a new course in our relations with Israel, as the current situation requires a serious new opening with the Jewish state.

The fact that we are the hope of so many Islamic countries also requires us to concentrate on their growing problems and address their issues.

Internally we have to put our house in order, especially the police force and the judiciary system, thus put behind us the security flaws and the judicial mess that has been created in recent times. This means we have to face the reality created by the Gülen Movement and try to grab power in all state offices, thus undermine the government.

The new government also has to address the Kurdish issue and realize that the current situation which has been placed on hold is unsustainable.

Of course all of these issues are valid if the Justice and Development Party manages to retain power with a comfortable majority. If not, the situation will be further complicated for Turkey. At least we have the hope that things will pick up in Turkey after the elections.