Report: AKP, MHP struggle to agree on amendments to election law
MHP's Bahçeli with President Erdoğan (Photo: AA/File)
Click to read the article in Turkish
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have not yet fully agreed on the planned amendments to the election law, BBC Turkish reported, citing sources fom the AKP.
A couple of weeks ago, leaders of both parties stated that they had agreed to lower the election threshold from 10 to 7 percent.
However, BBC Turkish reported, they have not settled on other details such as whether the threshold will apply to the parties or the alliances and whether the number of polling districts will be increased.
According to recent opinion polls, the votes of the alliance have dropped to around 40 percent from over 53.5 percent in the 2018 elections. The AKP and the MHP are believed to be seeking to maximize the number of their seats in the parliament by tweaking the election system.
CLICK - Why has the AKP-MHP alliance decided to lower the election threshold?
In the current legislation, seats are distributed to the parties according to a proportional representation system. According to reports, the two parties will keep this system while considering reducing the number of deputies in a polling district, which would gain an advantage to the parties with higher votes.
BBC Turkish reported the MHP does not lean towards this change as it will further increase the gap between the two allies. The allies mght have to settle with a limited amendment package, an AKP source told BBC. Currently, the AKP has 288 seats, and the MHP has 48 seats. The AKP needs the MHP to reach the simple majority of 298 seats.
Election committees
The two parties are also planning a change in the selection of the heads of the provincial election committees, according to BBC Turkish.
Currently, the most senior judge in a province heads the commission. According to the planned change, the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), the judicial overseeing body of the country, will pick one of the three most senior judges in a province as the committee chair. (DŞ/VK)