PRIME MINISTER Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday prepared for the challenge of leading Turkey into his promised “new era” as a strongman president following his election win, as his party began to set up the transfer of power. As premier since 2003, Erdogan has sought to modernise Turkey and take a more assertive position on the global stage but is seen by opponents as an increasingly authoritarian figure with a desire to Islamise Turkish society.
He is now to become the country’s first ever directly elected president after Sunday’s election win, with his inauguration set for August 28. He could well serve two five-year terms, staying in power until 2024. Attention will now turn to who becomes the next prime minister to take the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) into 2015 legislative elections. AKP spokesman Huseyin Celik announced that the party would hold an extraordinary congress on August 27 one day before the inauguration to agree a new prime minister to replace Erdogan. This means that Erdogan – who clearly has no desire to take even the smallest break – will stay in his current post until the very last moment when he takes the presidency from incumbent Abdullah Gul.
As Erdogan prepares to beef up the powers of the president -which in recent years has been a largely ceremonial role – he may have to tread more carefully after a victory that was weaker than expected. Erdogan is seeking a more US-style executive presidency but this will prove tricky within the limits of the current Constitution. The AKP has vowed to seek a new basic law after the 2015 polls. Debt ratings agency Fitch said the result “does little to ameliorate the political risk” to Turkey’s credit profile.
However, beefing up his powers may prove difficult as Mr Gul, the outgoing president, plans to return to the AKP. AKP does not command enough seats in the parliament to make the constitutional changes needed to give Mr Erdogan new executive powers. The Kurds were widely expected to support these in exchange for political concessions. Now that Mr Gul has thrown his hat in the ring, Mr Erdogan’s plans for a French-style strong presidency may go awry.
But domestic political victories have also drawn concern in the West that Mr. Erdogan has lurched toward a more autocratic system of governance, evoking comparisons to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has also occupied the posts of head of state and prime minister. Some analysts have suggested Mr. Erdogan’s populism, polarizing rhetoric and omnipresence on television is more akin to former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez. Whatever the case may be, Turkey has a new and challenging future ahead.
We congratulate the Turkish President (elect) HE Erdogan for his election victory (though with decreased number of votes polled in his favour). But record our apprehension that too much concentration of power in any single point – be that the office of the President or the Prime Minister – tends to defy or even curtail growth of democratic dispensation. Let democracy remain threat free in Turkey ever.
