Following the recent Parliament speaker election won by the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) İsmet Yılmaz over Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal, according to sources in Ankara, the CHP has begun to evaluate the scenario according to a possible AK Party- Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) coalition, which has become more likely. The MHP announced prior to the final round of voting for Parliament speaker that it would not support Baykal, citing the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) support for him, and thus would use blank votes in a possible fourth round, which increased the odds of Yılmaz being chosen for the post.
According to the CHP's evaluations, Baykal would have strong chances to be chosen for the post in the last round. However, with the MHP's strategy in the fourth round, the CHP began to reassess two scenarios that include an AK Party-MHP coalition or early elections. As the election process for Parliament speaker was viewed as a practice for a possible coalition government, it has been claimed that the CHP's plans have been shattered. Local sources have indicated that the lenient reaction from MHP officials toward Yılmaz's candidacy and the MHP's stance during the Parliament speaker election have caused CHP members to evaluate the situation as an AK Party-MHP coalition is becoming more likely once more.
With the official negotiations to form the new government are expected to begin shortly, sources have indicated that the CHP has also began to evaluate the strong possibility of snap elections. In the case of early elections various public surveys have pointed out that 4 percent of participants who did not vote for the AK Party in the June 7 general elections would vote for the AK Party in possible early elections. However, with a possible coalition government, concerns are high with stringent differences between the policies of the parties in Parliament making it hard for negotiations for a coalition, which has adverse connotations in Turkey, as it saw serious setbacks in both political and economic progress before the AK Party came to power and ended the period of coalition governments.
