Turkey's most asked questions about presidential election
by Sena Alkan
Apr 18, 2014 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Sena Alkan
Apr 18, 2014 12:00 am
ISTANBUL — Turkey has entered into a long electoral process following the March 30 elections that witnessed the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) victory by a landslide. As Turkey's presidential elections in August will be the first-ever to elect a president through direct popular vote, questions regarding the upcoming presidential elections, such as who can be a candidate, how electoral campaigns will be financed and is a second round necessary are waiting to be answered.
Daily Sabah evaluated the procedure for the upcoming presidential elections to answer the most asked questions regarding the elections and spoke to legal experts to clarify the procedure of the upcoming elections with its pros and cons.
After the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) Constitutional Committee in 2012 approved it in accord with the legal amendments in 2007, Turkey officially took a huge step to elect a president by direct referendum.
As the Supreme Election Board (YSK) suggests, there will be two rounds in the presidential elections with the first round on Aug. 10 and the second round expected to be on Aug. 24. One of the most asked questions is the necessity of a second round. According to the new presidential elections procedure, if a candidate gathers an absolute majority vote, that candidate will be elected as president in the first round; however, if one candidate does not receive a majority, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round will run in the second round. If only one individual is a candidate for president, the elections turn into a referendum, and the candidate with the most votes becomes president.
Considering the continuous speculation over who can be a candidate for president, the YSK's criteria to be a candidate are: a Turkish individual over 40 years of age who has had a higher education and meets the requirements to be elected as a deputy. To be nominated as a candidate for the TBMM, an individual must have at least 20 official proposals from deputies.
Political parties that are not represented in Parliament can nominate a joint candidate on condition that their total voting rate is around 10 percent.
Regarding speculation over non-parliamentary candidates that can possibly run for president, such as Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç, the procedure suggests that judges, prosecutors, academics, certain government officials, mayors and military officers can be candidates if they retire from office when their candidacy is officially announced.
While the procedure urges non-parliamentary candidates to leave their posts, the riskiest candidacy is attributed to constitutional court members, judges, prosecutors and military officers since a presidential candidacy blocks their reassignment to their posts. However, parliamentary candidates can announce their candidacy without leaving their posts; thus, the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not have to leave his post if he decides to run for president.
Accepted as a democracy feast and proof of a tightening race across the country, election campaigns are among the most-asked presidential election questions.
In the upcoming elections, candidates must follow the rules of the YSK, which are different from previous elections. In the upcoming presidential elections, political parties can only organize election campaigns for their candidates without using government financial resources that were allocated to them according to their voting success as it was in previous elections. This application has aroused questions concerning how candidates will finance their election campaigns. In a similar way to election campaigns in the U.S., the upcoming presidential elections will see sponsorship by individuals who donate money for the candidates they support. According to the amendments, each candidate will have a bank account for election donations, and the amount of money that an individual can donate will be no higher than the highest degree of a government official's gross salary. During the upcoming electoral campaign, foreign states, international organizations, legal entities and individuals who do not have a Turkish ID cannot donate money to candidates.
Speaking to Daily Sabah, AK Party Istanbul Deputy and legal expert Bülent Turan described Election Day, Aug. 10, as a historic day for Turkey. He stated that the presidential elections could also be defined as Turkey's transition day to a semi-presidential system. He said, "Having a strong political actor in the presidential palace is the requirement of a democratic state regarding the semi-presidential system." "Electing the president through a popular vote will lead the president to have a louder voice in order to protect the rights of the nation. The upcoming presidential elections will also give Turkey the upper hand and pave the way for new assertive initiatives in terms of politics and the economy," said Turan.
Law Proffessor and AK Party's Central Decision and Administration Board (MKYK) member Osman Can commented on the presidential elections, saying, "The upcoming presidential elections add a new channel to the current democracy channels." He stated that electing a president by popular vote or by Parliament is important for legitimacy, but there is no difference in terms of legal authority.
When asked if it is possible to mention a de facto semi-presidential system after the upcoming presidential elections, Can said that if the current government follows presidential politics, this can give the upper hand to the president, but the semi-presidential system is not in question for now.
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