If it fails to elect a president after seeking a consensus between the various political parties, new general elections will appear on the horizon soon after the July 22 elections, further risking the order of the house. The Constitutional Court's July 5 ruling, which backed a series of constitutional changes allowing among other things the public election of the president, created the possibility of additional parliamentary elections following those on July 22 if the next Parliament fails to elect the 11th president under the existing Constitution.
The constitutional changes paved the way for an Oct. 21 referendum for the public to decide whether presidents should be elected by popular vote. Thus if the next Parliament elects its president with a compromise there will be no need for calling more elections.
This next Parliament will then adopt the constitutional changes, including holding the referendum on electing a 12th president with reduced powers by popular vote.
The new Parliament's ability to elect a commonly-accepted president will be an ideal solution for the sake of preventing the further destabilization of the country following the April 27 e-memorandum issued by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The e-memo posted on the General Staff's Web site forced the government to hold elections in July rather than the planned date in November and denied the election of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Akşam daily on July 9 that he wants Turkey's next president to be elected by Parliament from a list of compromise candidates. He said he would consult other political party leaders with the list if necessary, adding: "They (critics) told me I should have previously come forward with more than one candidate, not just the one. We will seek compromise over a list of candidates that the constitution finds appropriate."
This statement of Erdoğan, whose Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is expected to retain power with a comfortable majority, came as a relief among many because it indicated his party's readiness for a compromise candidate rather than imposing a name without consulting other parties.
Turkish history is full of examples of parliamentary failures in electing a president, as has been the case with AK Party presidential candidate Gül lately and also during the period prior to the 1980 military coup, which gave birth to a military-dictated constitution.
The major reason behind irresolvable presidential problems in Turkey is the absence of a democratic culture in the society due to sporadic military interventions in a political system that does not allow citizens to enjoy all sorts of freedoms.
Thus it is incredibly important that the post-July 22 Parliament will prove to the public that all the parties can compromise on a name for the new president. This will also raise hopes among the public that the deputies they voted for are also been moving towards a period of maturity and thus are not in need of "guardians" who will dictate their actions to them.
