MHP head urges party to be ready for early election

ISTANBUL

Cihan Photo

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) head Devlet Bahçeli has said his party could expect an early election after Nov. 15 in the event that parties fail to form a coalition government.

“If no coalition or government is formed after the negotiation talks between the parties, then we may expect an early election after Nov. 15. We need to be ready for this,” Bahçeli was quoted as saying in daily Hürriyet on June 14, speaking at a meeting with his party’s Central Executive Board (MYK) and deputies.

Meanwhile, speaking to private broadcaster CNN Türk, the MHP head said he would hold talks only with a deputy appointed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after Erdoğan said he planned to personally invite each party leader for face-to-face talks with him. 

“Holding talks one by one with party leaders is not the president’s job. We do not find such an invitation convenient,” Bahçeli said.

“I will only hold talks with an appointed person. The president is, of course, authorized to appoint a deputy for these talks. Then, the authorization for the talks will belong to the appointed one,” he added.

In an unusual move, Erdoğan said on June 13 that he planned to hold separate talks with the leaders of all four parties that entered parliament in the June 7 elections before giving the mandate to form a new government. However, the leaders of the three opposition parties are thought to be cool on such a meeting. 

The MHP leader will have made his final decision after consultations with his inner circle, sources familiar with the matter said earlier on June 14. 

“We have not yet made an assessment. Let’s see the invitation first, then it will be assessed,” MHP Deputy Group Chair Oktay Vural said early on June 14.

Turkish political parties are on the verge of holding negotiations to form a coalition government, after no party secured a parliamentary majority in the June 7 election. 

In order to form a single-party government, a party must win 267 seats in parliament. According to the preliminary results announced by the Supreme Election Board (YSK), the Justice and Development Party (AKP) will have 259 seats while the Republican People’s Party (CHP) will have 132. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) will have 80 seats and the MHP will have 79 seats.