Turkey ruling party to discuss early poll call

In its 16 years in power, AK Party has never called early elections; stocks, lira crash

Turkey’s government said it’s considering a request from a leading ally to bring forward landmark presidential and parliamentary elections to late August, triggering falls in the lira, stocks and bonds.

Devlet Bahceli said his nationalist MHP party would support any move to advance polls currently scheduled for November 2019, and he suggested doing so by more than a year to August 26. Asked whether the government was surprised by the MHP position, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the ruling AK Party would evaluate the call and make a statement.

“The AK Party has a tradition of holding elections on time, and we had stated that the vote will take place as scheduled. But authorised party organs should evaluate this and it will be debated,” Bozdag told reporters in parliament. An announcement will be made after discussions chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said. Erdogan said he would meet Bahceli today.

Until now, the government has denied speculation that it wanted to move up the crucial votes, which are intended to abolish the job of prime minister and formally enshrine executive powers in the president’s office. In its almost 16 years in power, the AK Party has never called early elections.

The main opposition CHP accepted the challenge of an early election. “We’re always ready, said Bulent Tezcan, the party’s deputy chairman.

Currency fall

Turkey’s lira weakened, while bonds and stocks erased earlier gains. The currency fell as much as 0.7 per cent to 4.1266 against the dollar. The yield on 10-year government notes jumped 6 basis points after falling as much as 14 basis points earlier.

The main opposition CHP accepted the challenge of an early election. “We’re always ready, said Bulent Tezcan, the party’s deputy chairman. “Turkey’s problems can only be solved by the nation’s will.”

The August 26 date suggested by Bahceli marks the anniversary of a key military victory over Byzantine forces more than 900 years ago, and could be an attempt to capitalise on the rising nationalism that’s greeted the army’s offensives.