Turkish PM Davutoğlu leaves post in procedural move

ANKARA

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Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his cabinet resigned on June 9, a routine post-election procedure in Turkish politics. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan approved the resignations, which came after the Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its majority in the June 7 general election, and requested that the cabinet continue its duties until a new government is formed.

Davutoğlu resigned as prime minister in a cabinet meeting with President Erdoğan attending, Doğan News Agency reported. 

In Ankara the talk is of possible coalition scenarios, after the AKP lost enough seats to deny it the ability to form a one-party government.

The AKP lost his majority after the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) passed the 10 percent threshold and caused the AKP to drop to less than 276 seats in parliament. It had aimed for 330 seats, which it needed in order to change the constitution and thus pave the way to a new presidential system equipped with more power and fewer checks and balances.

The AKP received just over 40 percent of the vote, while the main opposition Republican People’s Party received just over 25 percent. The HDP passed the 10 percent election threshold and got over 13 percent of the vote share, securing at least 80 seats in parliament.