A month has passed by since the parliamentary elections. Opposition parties have yet to decide what kind of government coalition and government policy they want. It became obvious very rapidly that there is no possibility of a coalition encompassing the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). They remain poles apart on the political spectrum. The MHP hates the HDP so much that they preferred to not vote for the opposition candidate for the presidency of the chamber, just so it wouldn't vote for the same person as the Kurdish political movement.
The main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), is full of surprises as usual, changing its stance every other day. First they wanted a large coalition of all opposition parties. When they were snubbed and rebuffed by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, their idea has become to avoid at all costs a possible coalition (which remains extremely hypothetical) between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the MHP. Then they have decided to make a list of main issues for a possible coalition partnership. Now that the outgoing Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has been nominated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to form the new cabinet, we will see perhaps better what their new stance will be.
In any case, Turkey handled perfectly well the transitional period after the elections, where the government remained in office as a caretaker cabinet. The elections, the participation in the elections and the state organization that made possible the smooth functioning of the administration all along have deeply surprised more than one foreign observer. Javier Solana, an experienced European politician, former NATO Secretary General and former chief of the EU eternal policy, gave an interview to Lebanese L'Orient-Le Jour underlining the perfect firmness and functioning of Turkish democracy. He vehemently asked for the EU to get in much closer cooperation with Turkey, along with membership negotiations.
This is the keyword. Turkey is not important to just its people, it remains a center of gravity in a region where even the meaning of stability has disappeared. Turkey needs a strong, stable and decided government, in tune with international developments, in order to be able to continue to export its stability and democracy. If such a strong government cannot be produced through coalition negotiations, early elections can give the country and the surrounding regions the kind of stable governance it needs.
Turkish voters have enjoyed a long and stable political and economic period, under the one-party government of the AK Party and its leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Now the latter has become the first directly elected president of Turkey, still, the legislative and executive system is an obscure mixture of parliamentarianism and half-presidential regime. In the absence of a real overhaul of the constitutional system, early elections can also give back the Turkish voters the kind of stability they have been accustomed to for years.
Turkey needs a stable government at once. It is not only a must for Turks to consolidate the acquisitions of the last decade; it is also a need for the surrounding countries and their populations. Already 2 million Syrians are hosted in Turkey; Greece is in very bad shape and definitely needs to normalize its relations with Turkey. Only a decided, stable government can manage the destiny of the country in such a versatile and dangerous environment and period.
