Parliament buckles down to choose new speaker

PARLIAMENT entered an election period yesterday to choose the parliament speaker for two years in accordance with electoral system changes.

Since Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman’s time in office expired on Oct. 22, Parliament has been in an election period atmosphere. Candidates can apply for the position until Nov.16 on midnight, Thursday. Nominees for the position can campaign until Nov. 17 and the election should be finalized on Nov. 21.

While the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-PKK Democratic People’s Party (HDP) have announced their candidates for the position, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have yet to announce their candidates for the position. The CHP announced that it nominated İzmir Deputy Zekeriya Temizel for parliament speaker, while the HDP nominated Hakkari Deputy Selma Irmak, currently in jail for affiliations with the PKK, for the position. The AK Party is appraising the elections with care, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to announce the AK Party candidate following consultation with party members. The MHP announced Istanbul Deputy Celal Adan as its candidate yesterday.

According to internal regulation, the election of parliament speaker is held regularly every two years. Under previous regulations, the first elected parliament speaker held the position for two years, and the second one for three years in compliance with the five-year period between general elections. However, in the context of the constitutional changes under the presidential system, the newly elected parliament speaker will be assigned to the position for two years due to the reduction of the general election period to four years.

The election will be carried out by secret ballot and will be finished in four rounds of voting at most. In the first and second rounds, a two-thirds majority is required for candidate’s continuation to enter the third round in which an absolute majority vote is sufficient to elect a new parliament speaker. The second and third rounds of voting are carried out on the same day. Namely, 367 deputies should be present in Parliament in the first and second rounds, and 276 deputies should be present in the third round. In the event that Parliament is unable to garner an absolute majority in the third round, the two candidates who received the most votes in the previous rounds will compete in the fourth round of voting. The candidate who garners the most votes in the fourth round will be elected as the new parliament speaker for his or her respective parties, and the term in office of the elected official will be two years.