Parliament is set to elect a new parliamentary speaker as all political parties and independent deputies gather today.
Current parliamentary speaker İsmail Kahraman, the Istanbul deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), AK Party Adana Deputy Tamer Dağlı, the Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Zekeriya Temizel, the People's Democratic Party (HDP) Hakkari Deputy Selma Irmak, the Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) Celal Adan and independent deputy from Kayseri province Yusuf Halaçoğlu will be among the candidates for the speakership in the election.
According to parliamentary bylaws, there are only two elections in a legislative period for the speakership. The first term of elected speakership lasts for two years, and the second term is three years. However, since the constitutional changes implemented after the April 16 referendum reduced the general election term to four years, the mandate for the second term will not be three years but rather two years.
The election will be conducted by secret ballot and will be finalized in a maximum of four rounds of voting. In the first and second rounds, a two-thirds majority is a must for candidates to continue to the third round in which an absolute majority vote is sufficient for the election of a new parliament speaker.
The second and third rounds of voting are carried out on the same day. Namely, 367 deputies should be present in Parliament in the first and second rounds, and 276 deputies should be present in the third round. According to the current parliamentary distribution, the parliamentary speaker is expected to be elected in the third round of voting.
In the event that Parliament is unable to garner an absolute majority in the third round, the two candidates who received the most votes in the previous rounds will compete in a fourth round of voting. The candidate who garners the most votes in the fourth round will be elected as the new parliament speaker for his or her respective parties, to serve a two-year term. Following the selection of parliament speaker, members of the Presidency Council of Parliament will also be elected.