President Erdoğan’s stance unfair to Turkish PM: CHP chair

Şükrü Küçükşahin - ANKARA

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Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu is being unfairly treated by the president through dictating his own party preferences for a coalition government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not have the authority to determine the member parties of a coalition, said the CHP leader, reiterating that Davutoğlu would make the final decision through visiting parties and holding meetings.

“If the president is saying that ‘the coalition will be formed that way,’ then he should sit at the table. He should say ‘Davutoğlu, you should stand aside, I will form the coalition.’ But wouldn’t it be unfair to Davutoğlu?” said Kılıçdaroğlu. 

Kılıçdaroğlu also said that he has stated many times that Erdoğan should be silent on the formation of a coalition. 

“We have said many times, he has to speak rarely and concisely.  The media should take a careful and responsible stance on this. They do not have to broadcast all [of Erdoğan’s] speeches,” he said, adding that Erdoğan’s only responsibility is to hand off the mandate to the leader of the highest vote-earning party. 

Responding to a question about whether he had discussed issues about the president during his meeting with the prime minister, Kılıçdaroğlu said that the president was not a party of the coalition talks, thus rendering it unnecessary to talk about him.

“Why should we talk? President is not party to a coalition. But the president is most serious obstacle for democracy with his current stance on the coalition,” said the CHP leader, criticizing the president for making statement on “every issue regardless of [it] being within his authority or responsibility.”