Striking claim regarding Erdoğan's election strategy following Bahçeli's move: The government's opposition plan revealed

Claims regarding potential changes to the Presidential Government System continue to hold their place on the political agenda. Following MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's move regarding the electoral system, the focus of the debate is on the 50+1 percent vote requirement needed to be elected president.

Sociologist Semih Turan argued that in the current political landscape, AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may not want to go to an election with the 50+1 condition. According to Turan, the government may bring the search for a system revision or a more comprehensive constitutional amendment to the agenda in the coming period.

Turan stated that he has been expressing for about two years that it has become difficult to go to a new election with the current system. He also evaluated the joining of the AKP by legal scholar Serap Yazıcı Özbudun, who was involved in the strengthened parliamentary system studies during the Six-Party Table era, as a noteworthy development in terms of these debates.

Turan made the following assessment: "In the current system, the parameter that is much more important than the distribution of seats in parliament is the presidential candidacy. While it is certainly important who the opposition's candidate will be, the real issue is that Erdoğan's potential to receive 50+1 percent of the vote is no longer seen. I think the People's Alliance also sees this picture in the polls they have conducted."

Turan stated that a possible change does not have to be exactly the same as the strengthened parliamentary system model prepared by the opposition in the past, and that some elements of the current structure could be revised and transformed into a different model.

POSSIBILITY OF A CONSTITUTIONAL CALL TO THE OPPOSITION

According to Turan's assessment, the government may attempt to bring the topic of system change to the opposition's agenda through the debate on a “return to the parliamentary system.” Stating that the political support needed for a constitutional amendment could be sought in this way, Turan emphasized that a transition to a parliamentary system would not be possible with a single-article regulation and would require comprehensive work.

Arguing that a significant portion of voters appear to be in favor of a return to the parliamentary system in public opinion polls, Turan said that criticisms of the Presidential Government System are not limited to the issue of representation alone. According to Turan, problems in the fields of economy, health, education, and law also affect how voters view system debates.

Turan expressed: "When the government says, 'Let's talk about the parliamentary system,' it may be thinking that the opposition will not say no to this. It is seen that some steps are being taken in this direction. I think that after the autumn, the system revision and parliamentary system debates will come to the agenda much more frequently."

News Source: 12punto