Pages

Total Pageviews

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for early elections on June 24,2018

Turkey will hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24,2018, brought forward by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from November 2019.


Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday April 18,2018 called snap elections for June 24, saying economic challenges and the war in Syria meant his country must switch quickly to the powerful executive presidency that comes into effect with the new vote.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  has run Turkey since 2002 and will seek five more years with beefed up powers approved in a referendum last year.

The idea of an early poll was initially proposed by nationalist allies.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  said in televised speech the country needed the new election to rid it of "the diseases of the old system".

"Developments in Syria and elsewhere have made it urgent to switch to the new executive system in order to take steps for our country's future in a stronger way," the president said in a live broadcast.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had made the decision after speaking to the head of the nationalist MHP party, Devlet Bahceli, who is expected to form an alliance with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 's ruling AK Party in the parliamentary polls.

The elections are likely to take place under a state of emergency that has been in place since a coup attempt in July 2016.

The winner will assume the presidency of the Turkish republic with broad powers that were approved after a constitutional referendum held in April 2017

Turkey held a referendum on presidential powers in April 2017. Narrowly approved by voters, the constitutional amendments abolished the office of prime minister and allowed the president to be a member of a political party, appoint unelected vice-presidents, and have a greater say in appointing judges to the highest judicial board in the country, as well as issuing decrees with the force of law.

No comments:

Post a Comment