Turskish constitutional Court declares friday's presidential elections invalid

[LordShiva]

WTF is a deputy?

[Spiffor]

From the BBC:

Turkey PM to ask for early poll
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will ask parliament to approve an early general election.

He also said he would ask for a change in the constitution to allow the president to be chosen by the people.

Mr Erdogan was speaking after the country's constitutional court annulled last Friday's parliamentary vote to elect a new president.

Secularist opposition parties had challenged the vote in court to prevent the foreign minister from winning.

The parties accuse Abdullah Gul of having a hidden Islamist agenda and say his election would threaten Turkey's secular tradition.

Mr Erdogan, the leader of the AK party, which has Islamist roots and had put forward Mr Gul as its candidate, said he would apply for new polls on Wednesday and they could be held as soon as 24 June.

The polls are currently scheduled for 4 November.

Army role

Mr Erdogan announced a package of reform proposals that included reducing the term of parliament from five years to four.

He was speaking after the constitutional court annulled last Friday's vote in which Mr Gul failed to win the required majority amid a boycott by the opposition.

The constitutional court backed the opposition's argument that a quorum of two-thirds of the 550 lawmakers was not present.

A total of 361 lawmakers voted - 357 for Mr Gul - but 367 were needed to make a quorum.

Mr Gul and Mr Erdogan deny there is any hidden Islamist agenda.

But the BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says the army had made it clear it would not tolerate Mr Gul as president.

It warned it would defend the separation of state and religion, the legacy of the state's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Our correspondent says the court is officially independent but had been under immense pressure to reach precisely the verdict it did. It is one that is likely to divide Turkey further, she says.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Istanbul in support of secularism.

[Spiffor]

I wonder if those early elections are such a good idea, after all. If the situation is tense and the population is highly divided, an election is bound to worsen those divisions, and create instability. Maybe they'd be better off, voting for an interim prez as figurehead, and waiting for the scheduled elections to occur.

Besides, it's really stupid to have a president directly elected by the people when the country is divided. Such an election makes the regime more presidential, creates a personalization of politics, and worsens existing divisions.

[Asmodean]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Asmodean

Ecthy

[Ecthy]

What would the military have against early elections?

[Barnabas]

Originally posted by LordShiva
WTF is a deputy?

I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot no deputy, ooh hoo hoo

Many countries have 2 legislatures, one of deputies, more numerous, and one of senators.


The senators represent all states/provinces equally, and the deputies according to population.

I am not particularly in favour of it, only one is enough imo

[Colonâ„¢]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Germany has 600 but we also have a larger population.

You got 80 million, Turkey got 70.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Barnabas







Many countries have 2 legislatures, one of deputies, more numerous, and one of senators.


The senators represent all states/provinces equally, and the deputies according to population.

I am not particularly in favour of it, only one is enough imo

Well, we have 2 legislatures too (well, technically one legislature with two houses), but we don't call them deputies. Deputies is a stupid name for them.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Ecthy
What would the military have against early elections?

Well, the AKP is riding high in the polls. Later elections might offer a better chance of getting a secularist prez without the military having to intervene directly.


What does Erdogan, Gul, et consortes's "islamism" amount to, anyway? Their only concrete islamistic policy I can recall hearing of is opposing the headscarf ban, which any liberal should support.