Parliament speaker Çiçek likely to defend his seat

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

In a highly anticipated move, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced that their candidate for the office of the parliament speaker is Cemil Çiçek, whose current office period will terminate on July 4.

“We have signed with our fellow deputies. We will propose Cemil Çiçek as the parliament speaker again,” AKP’s deputy parliamentary group chair Mustafa Elitaş said today.

“God willing, upon appreciation of the Parliament’s General Assembly, the parliament speaker will be elected on July 2, Tuesday,” Elitaş added. The most important reason for letting this veteran politician extend his mandate is seen as the ongoing Constitution-making process. Çiçek has long exerted efforts for the continuation of the four-party Constitution Conciliation Commission as the most effective way forward, although sharp disagreements slowed down its works and only 45 articles were written in the nearly one-and-half year’s work of the commission.

Meanwhile, after Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) Konya deputy Faruk Bal, as of June 28, the last day for applications, main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Istanbul deputy Osman Korutürk became the second official candidate running for the same office in order to replace Çiçek.