Turkish President Erdogan calls for snap polls post decision for no coalition

Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for snap elections on Monday after the expiry of the date of forming a coalition government in the country. After his meeting with Parliament Speaker Ismet Yilmaz on Sunday at his presidential premises, he released a statement announcing the polls without giving a date.

“In line with the constitution the Turkish parliament will undergo renewed elections,” the presidency stated with no specifications on the date of election. Mr Erdogan never showed his interest in a coalition government, but he hardly accepted his intentions of preferring to form a government alone. He also said, “A Cabinet of ministers could not be established, and it has become evident that under current conditions it cannot be formed … Therefore, the decision to call repeat elections has become a necessity.”

Since its emergence in 2002, it is the first time that the AKP has to depend on coalition to enjoy political powers in the state. But the conversation with opposition party CHP for coalition yielded no result since June. After unsuccessful efforts for coalition, the president has called for November 1 elections aiming at winning overall majority this time.

Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been unable to form a coalition government with the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). During the elections held in June 2015, AKP won only 258 seats, where 276 was the minimum requirement to have overall majority in the Turkish Parliament with 550-seats in total.

It is the first time after Turkey became a republic in 1923 that there has been a call for snap polls. The reason behind the defeat of the well-to-do party of Turkey was the emergence of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a party with novel centre-left motives with Kurds as its representatives, which form major percentage of the Turkish population. Selahattin Demirtas, who leads the HDP, was considered as a “ one-day-wonder pretty boy,” but Mr Erdogan never praised him. But now he agrees that HDP is emerging as a biggest threat to AKP.

The call for snap elections might be a dangerous decision for not only Mr Erdogan, but for the state as a whole. It may prompt complications in the other issues of the Middle East, including Syria civil war, fight against Islamic State in Iraq and terrorist organisation based in Syria.

However, the question that still sustains is whether the snap elections will lead to different results or the situation would be similar even the next time.

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