The Parliamentary Constitutional Committee has accelerated work on the 26-article alliance bill that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted to Parliament last week.
The bill was discussed in the sub-committee yesterday under the chairmanship of AK Party Istanbul deputy and Parliamentary Constitutional Committee head Mustafa Şentop. Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül also attended the session. The sub-committee accelerated the process and transferred the bill to the upper committee, which is set to convene today.
"Those who appeal to the common excitement and expectation of the public will collaborate naturally," Gül said.
Speaking about the alliance bill, Gül said that it is not always possible to achieve unity of language, opinion and work in the mathematics of politics. He added, however, that the tools that would still yield unity have always been needed.
"So far, prohibitive provisions in the legislation have blocked parties from cooperating while protecting their political entities. The bill is meeting the requirements and taking the alliances to a legal ground with this," he said.
Şentop said that the AK Party and MHP People's Alliance covers the upcoming legislative term, citing the dynamic structure of politics.
"Pre-election alliances are formed before elections. Theoretically, this does not mean that parties make an alliance for every election. You make an alliance for this election and make a commitment to the public about the post-election period. … It will be an alliance for one electoral period [and] five-year-program
Commenting on the possibility of forging alliances in elections in the future, Şentop said that the same parties can make alliances with different declarations for future elections.
Meanwhile, referring to the meeting between the AK Party and Felicity Party (SP) last month, AK Party spokesman Mahir Ünal said the SP did not mention an alliance. He said the SP only made suggestions regarding adjustment laws. "When we look at the recent developments and statements from a Republican People's Party (CHP) assembly member, there are meetings between the CHP, SP and Good [İYİ] Party."
Commenting on a statement from CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu that he has a positive look on an alliance if it would be in line with CHP principles, Ünal said that the CHP has already been considering forming an alliance but is trying to adorn it with words. "You are not doing anything to be ashamed of, you can form your alliance," Ünal said.
The alliance bill is considered a milestone for Turkish politics to pave the way for electoral alliances for the first time. The MHP announced that it would not nominate a candidate for the 2019 presidential elections, saying it would support President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's re-election. The bill aims to prepare a legal base for alliances.