Draft election law allows fairer representation at parliament

ANKARA

A draft law that amends the election law will pave the way for a fairer parliamentary representation and prevent unethical political moves during the election process, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

“I wish this proposal that covers reducing the election threshold to 7 percent, recalculating the election of the lawmakers will be for the best of our country,” Erdoğan stated on March 17. He also said the proposal will disallow smaller parties to win a bigger representation at the parliament in proportion to the votes they gain.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its main political ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have submitted a 15-article draft law to amend the election law which reduces the national election barrier from 10 to 7 percent. It also obliges the political parties to pass this threshold to win seats at the parliament, although the alliance they are part of garners more than 7 percent of votes. The proposal no longer allows a political party with a group of at least 20 lawmakers in the parliament to run in the elections. This aims to prevent the political parties from transferring lawmakers just to be eligible to run in the elections. In June 2018 elections, the CHP transferred 15 lawmakers to the İYİ Party, which had only five deputies at the parliament, so that the latter could race in the polls.

“The ones who will benefit most from this proposal will be lawmakers from the Republican People’s Party [CHP]. They will not be introduced as a gift to other political parties,” Erdoğan said. “We also aim to avoid the smaller parties to manipulate politics.”

The proposal will bring about a fairer representation at the parliament, Erdoğan said.

In other remarks, Erdoğan urged members of the AKP to relentlessly work for the next year’s polls, saying, “The 2023 elections is not only representing a crossroads for the future of AKP and the People Alliance but for the future of our country.”

The AKP will continue to work for the development of Turkey in line with the 2023 objectives that suggests Turkey’s becoming one of the top economies in the world, the president stressed.