Justice Minister expects top court to dismiss CHP appeal

ANKARA

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ. AA Photo

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has voiced his conviction that the top court of Turkey will dismiss an appeal from the main opposition party’s candidate to order a rerun of the contested mayoral race in the capital, regardless of the application’s merits.

Bozdağ said on May 27 that he maintained that the Constitutional Court has no authority to review the appeal from Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Ankara candidate Mansur Yavaş. He further argued that decisions from the Supreme Election Board (YSK) cannot be subject to judicial procedure since the decisions made by the board are final in regard to resolving controversies concerning elections.

Speaking to reporters, Bozdağ’s remarks came when he was asked to comment on a recent initiative by the Constitutional Court’s rapporteur assigned concerning Yavaş’s appeal.

“I do not remember a time when Turkey has received even miniscule criticism concerning the security of the elections. The thing we do most successfully is hold healthy elections. Turkey has set an example for the world in this aspect. The latest local elections were held extremely healthily and successfully, too. All kinds of criticism were put to rest with the YSK’s rulings. I hope the Constitutional Court dismisses this [application] assessing it on its merits. In my opinion, if it makes a ruling in regard to its merits, then it would be violating both the Constitution and the law on its own [the court’s] foundation,” Bozdağ said.

The top court’s rapporteur recently asked the YSK for its detailed ruling with which it rejected charges of fraud, including problems with vote counting, which was subject to Yavaş’s appeal.

There are suggestions that the rapporteur’s demand for additional documents in the Yavaş case indicates that the final ruling will be in favor of the complainant. This is because the Court tends not to expand its examination in cases it is likely to reject.