Constitutional Court verdict cannot cancel elections: AKP deputy
ANKARA
A Constitutional Court ruling to annul the upcoming snap election citing security reasons cannot pave the way to a cancellation of the June 24 vote, parliament’s constitutional commission chair Mustafa Şentop has said.
If the top court decides to annul the recent election law, the High election Board (YSK) will simply implement previous practices instead, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Şentop said on May 30 in a televised interview.
The related legislation is about the implementation of election methods and will not influence the holding of the election itself, he added.
“The YSK can make practices by taking principle decisions about existing legal matters. But whatever ruling the Constitutional Court takes, this cannot be a decision for cancelling the elections,” Şentop said.
Touching on the continued jailing of Selahattin Demirtaş, the presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP), Şentop noted that Demirtaş is still a lawmaker but opted to run for the presidency after his detention.
“Should he be released just because he was nominated in the presidential election? If so, then any prisoner could be released with the signature of 100,000 people,” he said, referring to the number of public signatures needed to nominate a presidential candidate for a party not represented at parliament.
The CHP appealed to the Constitutional Court regarding the legal package stipulating extensive changes in electoral and political party laws, saying the change – which were passed in March - will prevent free and fair elections.
The Constitutional Court is due to consider the CHP’s application to cancel new electoral laws on May 31.
