Saadet Party leader clarifies his words over ‘new alliances’

ANKARA

The statement by Saadet (Felicity) Party leader Temel Karamollaoğlu that there may be a third alliance on the side of opposition parties after a new election law has sparked a debate over cooperation among six opposition parties that united to reinstate a parliamentary system in Turkey.

Speaking to Karar TV on April 13, Karamollaoğlu said that the conditions have changed with the new election law, therefore, there may be a third alliance. In the old system, the votes for allied parties were first divided among alliances as if they were one vote, then the number of deputies was divided among allied parties, he said, noting that with the new election law that advantage was gone. “It is necessary to seek new ways,” he said.

The politician clarified his words with a post on social media on April 14.

Underlining that he did not bring up a different idea about the cooperation of six opposition parties, Karamollaoğlu said, “Just as the Democratic Party and the İYİ [Good] Party are in an ‘alliance within an alliance,’ the same can happen in different forms. This is what I want to say.”

“Also, I am of the opinion that it is not right to discuss such issues related to the election without entering the election process,” he added.

On March 31, parliament voted in favor of the amendments to the electoral law that reduced the national threshold from 10 to 7 percent. It also stresses that all parties should pass the national threshold to win seats in parliament, although they are part of an alliance.

If the total number of votes received by an alliance exceeds the country threshold, the distribution of deputies will be calculated by taking into account the number of votes received by the parties in an alliance in that electoral district.

On Feb. 28, the leaders of six Turkish opposition parties, namely the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), the Republican People’s Party (CHP), İYİ Party, the Saadet Party, the Democrat Party and the Future Party, signed a joint declaration outlining their plan to restore “strengthened parliamentary system.”

The CHP, İYİ Party, Saadet Party and the Democrat Party formed the Nation Alliance before June 2018 general elections.