12punto asked Feti Yıldız and Erkan Akçay: What will be the MHP's stance following Erdoğan's 50+1 remarks?
The MHP's silence regarding President Erdoğan's call for a change to the 50+1 rule is drawing attention.
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Ercan KÜÇÜK-12punto.com.tr
President Erdoğan's statements regarding the need to change the 50+1 percent rule in presidential elections have become the new agenda of politics. We asked MHP Deputy Chairman Feti Yıldız about Erdoğan's remarks and the MHP's stance.
THE FIRST CALL CAME FROM BAHÇELİ
To win a presidential election, a candidate must receive '50+1 percent', which is one vote more than 50 percent of the valid votes. The Presidential System came to the agenda with MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's call in October 2016; subsequently, the regime was changed with the referendum held in 2017, and the election of the President by the public with the 50+1 rule was made official. In the current system, candidates are forced to come together with other parties to form alliances in order to pass the 50+1 threshold.
President Erdoğan signaled a change to the 50+1 rule in a statement he made recently. Erdoğan said the following:
“I agree that the 50+1 requirement should be changed; it would be appropriate. If we switch to a system where the candidate who receives the majority is elected, the presidential election would be quick, would not be troublesome, and would not lead to wrong paths. The current 50+1 obligation leads parties down wrong paths. It is unclear whose hand is in whose pocket. There is the 6-party table, the 16-party table... Who knows what else will emerge after this? But when it is said that 'the candidate who receives the most votes is elected' in terms of vote count, the election is completed quickly.”
12PUNTO ASKED MHP OFFICIALS
The fact that there was no reaction from the MHP front to Erdoğan's remarks had become a matter of curiosity. 12punto asked the MHP about Erdoğan's remarks. MHP Deputy Chairman in charge of Legal and Election Affairs and Member of the Constitutional Commission Feti Yıldız, emphasizing that he is a legal expert, said the following:
“Our Chairman Devlet Bahçeli will make the necessary statement on this matter at the group meeting tomorrow.”
MHP Group Deputy Chairman Erkan Akçay also stated, upon 12punto's question, that it would not be appropriate for him to make a statement, pointing to the speech Bahçeli will make at the group meeting.