Coalition government should be preferred to early elections, former president says

Deniz Zeyrek - ANKARA

DHA Photo

Turkey’s former president, Abdullah Gül, said political parties should prefer the option of forming a coalition government over early elections, speaking a day after Turkey’s June 7 elections. 

“We should evaluate the election results prudently without panic. We are living in a multiple party system after all. Such results can come anytime. We have seen it in the past many times,” said Gül.

“Everyone has worked a lot and become tired. Forming a [coalition] government together should be tried. The elections are not easy. One has to approach the ruling of a country the way a mother approaches her child, like the mother of the country: Maturely,” said Gül, speaking to daily Hürriyet on June 8. 

He also said that he did not meet with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials after the elections.

“I thought they would be busy, so I called them on the phone before the election results were announced. The elections are the result. We said that we had hoped for ‘the people’s will to appear’ and it did. Everyone should respect the people’s will and we see from their statements that they do,” Gül added.