Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Ilhamgizi / A member of the Turkish Parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party, Ahmed Farruk Unsal, informed Trend by telephone on 8 May that in the parliamentary elections the ruling party will again gain the majority in parliament. He said that the Turkish Parliament is preparing to make amendments to the Constitution of Turkey. According to the expected amendments, the President of the country will be elected by the public, not Parliament. The President's authority period should equal five years and one person can be elected only twice.
The amendments are expected to be passed on 9 May. Unsal said that if the amendments are supported by the majority of parliamentarians, the document will be presented to the President. If the decision is not approved, the document will be given back to Parliament. The process may repeat. In such cases, the Parliament reconsiders its decision for a third time. The President does not have the right to impose a veto the third time. In this case, they need to hold a referendum. Unsal said that the ruling party supports the amendments to the Constitution. According to him, in the forthcoming elections, the ruling party will nominate the previous candidate, present Foreign Minister, Abdulla Gul. Unsal considers that in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the ruling party will gain the majority of votes and make up at least 35% in Parliament.
In addition, he stressed that candidates from various parties are expected to join the presidential elections. The presidential elections which took place on 6 May were not considered valid due to the lack of the necessary number of votes. Extraordinary parliamentary elections will take place in Turkey on 22 June.