Turkish parliament set for round two of presidential vote

FE Team | Published: August 25, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

ANKARA, AUG 24 (AFP): Turkey's parliament was set Friday to take another stab at electing former Islamist Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as president, but expectations were that voting would have to go into a third round.
Gul, whose Islamist past has sparked concerns that his presidency would undermine Turkey's secular system, garnered 341 votes from the 550-seat house in the first round Monday, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed.
The second-round vote, which starts at 3:00 pm (1200 GMT), was expected to produce a similar outcome, but Gul should easily win in the third round next Tuesday when only a simple majority of 276 is required.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), to which he belongs, commands 340 parliamentary seats.
The other two candidates -- Sabahattin Cakmakoglu from the right-wing Nationalist Action Party and Tayfun Icli from the centre-left Democratic Left Party -- stand little chance against him.
It is Gul's second bid for the presidency this year. His first attempt in April was blocked by an opposition boycott that denied parliament the quorum needed to hold the vote.
The crisis climaxed when the army warned it stood ready to defend the secular system, forcing snap general elections on July 22 in which the AKP won a huge majority it hailed as a popular mandate to re-nominate Gul.
The main opposition Republican People's Party, which says a former Islamist has no place as secular Turkey's president, boycotted Monday's vote, but the quorum was secured with the participation of other opposition parties.
Gul has repeatedly pledged to stay loyal to the secular system and be impartial if elected.
Turkey's president is a largely ceremonial figure, but has the authority to name senior bureaucrats and judges and to return legislation to parliament.
Opponents say that with Gul in the presidential palace, the AKP, the moderate offshoot of a now-banned Islamist movement, will get a free hand to erode the separation of state and religion -- an intention he denies.
Hardline secularists are also irritated by the fact that Gul's wife wears the Islamic headscarf, which they see as a symbol of defiance of the secular system.
Ten years ago, the army forced the resignation of Turkey's first Islamist-led government of which Gul was a member. It has remained silent about his re-nomination for the presidency.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan fuelled tensions this week when he said that those who are unhappy with the prospect of Gul as head of state should leave Turkey.
The media and civic groups denounced his comments as non-democratic and analysts said the prime minsiter cast a pall on Gul's pledges to embrace all sectors of Turkish society if elected.
The AKP has disowned its Islamist roots, pledged loyalty to secularism and conducted far-reaching reforms that stabilised the economy and ensured the start of Turkey's EU membership talks.
It dismisses accusations that it still harbours Islamist ambitions as "fear-mongering" by opponents that have failed to match its rising popularity.