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AK Party looks for a parliament speaker other than Toptan
The first two rounds of parliament speaker elections will be held on Aug. 4. If a candidate receives a two-thirds majority in either of the first two rounds, he or she will be elected. If a new parliament speaker is not elected at the end of two rounds, the candidates who receive the most votes will run in the third and fourth rounds.
Last time, the ruling party elected Toptan in the first round thanks to the support of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Whether the AK Party candidate will be supported by the CHP during this year's elections depends on the candidate to be nominated. The CHP, which expects Toptan to be nominated again, does not plan to support any other nominations by the AK Party.
However, some AK Party members have expressed displeasure regarding Toptan. Despite reports stating that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has implied that Toptan will be re-elected and the signs Toptan gave about being re-nominated after a meeting with the party's parliamentary group deputy chairmen, Toptan's performance over the past two years has not satisfied the majority of AK Party members. A number of AK Party deputies are currently working to prevent his nomination and have voiced their displeasure to the party administration at every opportunity. They are planning to boycott the elections if Erdoğan nominates Toptan again.
One of the main reasons behind the AK Party deputies' opposition to Toptan was his stance after the Constitutional Court nullified a package of amendments that would have lifted the headscarf ban. After the nullification decision, Erdoğan visited Toptan and said Parliament should not remain silent since its authority had been usurped by the court. Yet, Toptan did not react to the decision as parliament speaker.
The second reason for the deputies' disappointment was his indecisive stance on a recent law that allows civilian courts to try members of the armed forces. While he was expected to pay visits to party leaders to win their support, Toptan simply issued a general call, disappointing many AK party deputies. Just like CHP deputies, Toptan said he had not been notified about the content of the legislation, drawing huge criticism from his party. Toptan is also seen as an obstacle in the way of bringing a new constitution before Parliament.
Rather than specific names, AK Party members are discussing the qualities a parliament speaker should possess. According to these discussions, the new parliament speaker should take genuine steps on drafting a new constitution. He should have a democratic and civil worldview. An AK Party deputy who asked to remain anonymous said: “The new parliament speaker should be as democratic as Bülent Arınç and as reconciliatory as Toptan. Yet, he should not be as sharp as Arınç or as passive as Toptan.”
Since the stance of the new parliament speaker is of crucial importance for the continuation of democratic reforms to be carried out by the government, expectations for the new parliament speaker are high among AK Party deputies.
In this atmosphere, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, former Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin, former Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik, Kırıkkale deputy Vahit Erdem and Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül are among those seen as possible candidates for the post. With the election of the parliament speaker, the AK Party will also determine new deputy parliamentary group chairmen to replace Nihat Ergün and Sadullah Ergin, who have become ministers.
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