Some 600 Turkish lawmakers are set to elect a new Parliament speaker in a vote scheduled to start at 3 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The elected speaker will serve for a term of three years unless a snap vote is called.
Candidates from five political parties with groups in Parliament are competing in polls, which will also see Parliament’s executive board renewed.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has nominated incumbent Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş. The party’s ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), does not have a candidate and is expected to endorse Kurtulmuş.
Kurtulmuş, whose current term expires on Saturday, is expected to be reelected as Parliament speaker in the third round with the votes of at least the AK Party and MHP, which combined hold 320 seats at Parliament.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is running with its lawmaker from eastern Artvin province, Uğur Bayraktutan, while Parliament’s third-largest Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has named their Diyarbakır representative Cengiz Çandar for the post.
The smaller opposition parties have also nominated their own candidates, with the nationalist Good Party (IP) naming Istanbul MP Cihan Paçacı and the New Road Group, which features the Felicity Party (SP), Future Party (GP) and Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), naming SP's Samsun MP Mehmet Karaman.
Constitutional provisions and internal regulations stipulate that the Parliament speaker is elected by a secret ballot of the lawmakers.
The winning candidate must secure two-thirds, i.e., 400, of the vote. If no candidate achieves the majority in the first two rounds, a simple majority of the total number of MPs, meaning 301, will be sought in the third round.
If the third round, too, yields no absolute majority, the two candidates who receive the most votes will compete in a fourth round, and the winner will be elected speaker.
The CHP holds 135 seats and the DEM Party has 56, while the Good Party and the New Road Party reserve 29 and 23, respectively.
Following the election, the members of Parliament’s executive council, which are determined by the political parties, will also be renewed.
The DEM Party has nominated its Van MP, Pervin Buldan, to replace Deputy Parliament Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who passed away on May 3.
Buldan served in the party’s delegation for the terror-free Türkiye initiative alongside Önder and conveyed messages to and from the terrorist group PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan. The terror-free initiative, launched by MHP leader Devlet Bahceli last year, culminated in a landmark decision by the terrorist group to disband and end its four-decade terror campaign in Türkiye.
President and AK Party Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan phoned Buldan and congratulated her on her nomination, Turkish media said.
The CHP nominated Ankara MP Tekin Bingöl as its candidate for the position of deputy Parliament speaker, replacing Denizli MP Gülizar Biçer Karaca.
The AK Party and MHP did not make any changes in their deputy Parliament speakers.
