There will be no fight for presidency in 2014, PM says
ANKARA
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed his belief that there will be no fight for the presidency in 2014, as the movement they had launched was made up of people with no such personal ambitions.Erdoğan said he found it unnecessary to comment of the ruling of Constitutional Court. “We have a president right now and this process will continue until 2014. We’ll make the necessary considerations in 2014,” he told reporters late June 16. Meanwhile, President Abdullah Gül said he would rather stay outside the debate on the Constitutional Court’s decision on presidential elections. “I had a principle decision, which is to remain outside of these discussions. What is important for me is to carry out my duty properly,” President Gül told reporters in İzmir on June 16. Asked whether he would run for the presidency again, Gül said “We have a lot of time to talk about this.” However, one prominent government member has already rejected the re-election of Gül to the presidency, with Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ saying the annulment in the second part of the court’s verdict, which allows for the re-election of a president, is unconstitutional. However, Bozdağ also said the Court’s ruling extending President Gül’s mandate to seven years was legitimate according to the constitution. Gül’s mandate is seven years, and he can stand for re-election for another five years, Turkey’s top court announced last week.
