The Supreme Election Board (YSK) has announced that snap elections will take place on Nov.1, once President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan authorizes Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to form the caretaker government.
Speaking after a meeting at the institution, Sadi Güven said a cabinet could not be formed following the 45-day period after the June 7 elections and President Erdoğan's decision to go to the polls according to the 104th and 116th Articles of the Constitution.
"Our Supreme board decided in today's meeting, taking the upcoming winter season into account, that the 26th Term General Elections will be held on Monday Nov. 1, 2015, in accordance with the 79th and 116th article of the Constitution and the eighth and ninth article of law no. 2839," he said.
Güven also indicated that one of the parties demanded that elections take place on Nov. 8, and said, "However, our supreme board found Nov. 1 appropriate considering the climate of conditions in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country. We have used the authorization of organizing the elections with peace and order, given by the Constitution's 79th article and decided to hold the elections on Nov. 1."
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu urged Turkey's opposition parties to "assume their responsibilities" on Tuesday and join an interim power-sharing government, saying he would offer cabinet posts to their deputies even if party leaders objected.
President Tayyip Erdoğan earlier appointed Davutoğlu to form an interim government to lead the country to a new election, after two months of coalition talks failed to produce a working government.
Davutoğlu has five days to form the interim cabinet and is obliged by the constitution to offer cabinet posts to opposition members. Candidates from outside parliament can fill the posts if the opposition turns them down.
In a potential caretaker government, the Justice and Development (AK) Party will have 11 ministries; the second-placed Republican People's Party (CHP) to have five while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the People's Democratic People's Party (HDP) will get three ministries each. In addition, independent deputies will also get three ministries.
However, the CHP and MHP have so far refused to take part in the caretaker government, whereas the HDP will take its share of three ministries in the upcoming caretaker government, the party's co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said on Tuesday.
CHP's spokesman Haluk Koç reitarated on Tuesday at a press conference that his party's deputies will not take part in the interim government to be formed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. The MHP Chairman Bahçeli has also said on the same day that his party will not take part in the caretaker government.
The winner of the election, the AK Party gained 40.9 percent of the votes and 258 seats in the parliament. Leader of the AK Party, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had to find a coalition partner to obtain a vote of confidence in the Parliament to pass the 276-seat threshold in order to form a majority government.
The government formation process began on July 9 with President Erdoğan assigning the duty to form the 63rd government to Ahmet Davutoğlu, as his party gained the most votes in the elections. The Turkish premier met with the leaders of CHP, MHP and co-chairs of HDP as part of coalition talks.
With no results from previous coalition negotiations, PM Davutoğlu held exploratory talks with the CHP. As a grand coalition between the CHP and AK Party yielded no results, Davutoğlu held a second round of talks with the MHP. Nonetheless, the attempt to form an AK Party-MHP coalition also ended unsuccessfully. PM Davutoğlu returned the mandate to form a government to President Erdoğan five days before the deadline of the 45-day period to form a government. Davutoğlu on Tuesday has received the mandate to form the caretaker government, ahead of renewed elections in November.
The president had announced previously that the country will go to early polls on Nov. 1, after efforts by political parties to form a coalition government failed, but the president officially called for new elections on Monday evening at around 10 p.m. following his four-hour meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, İsmet Yılmaz.
