Possibility of snap elections triggers discussions on Treasury grants
by Mehmed Cavid Barkçin
ISTANBULAug 11, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Mehmed Cavid Barkçin
Aug 11, 2015 12:00 am
As the deadline for the formation of a government draws near and coalition talks are as of yet inconclusive, the probability of snap elections is being discussed once again. A new aspect of the recurrent discussion, however, is whether an additional annual treasury grant will be provided in the case of snap elections.
The current Law on Political Parties clearly defines the total amount of grants political parties will receive in a year with or without elections. It is stated that 0.04 percent of the annual national budget is dedicated for political parties as a grant that is doubled in the case of local elections and tripled in general elections. Nevertheless, there is not any clear definition regarding the grants if snap elections are held within the same year of a previous election.
In accordance with the law, this year a total of TL 531 million ($190 million) was proportionately provided to political parties that have acquired more than 7 percent of the total vote, instead of the usual TL 177 million because the general elections were to take place. Currently, three scenarios regarding the treasury grant are being discussed. According to the first scenario, political parties would be provided with the full sum of TL 531 million – the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would receive TL 226.5 million, the Republican People's Party (CHP) TL 139.8 million, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) TL 91.2 million and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) 73.5 million. In the second scenario, it is claimed that they would receive a grant of TL 354 million, the annual grant of TL 177 million being deduced from the total TL 531 million, according to which the AK Party would receive TL 151 million, the CHP TL 93 million, the MHP TL 61 million and the HDP TL 49 million. The third scenario is that an additional grant to the political parties would not be provided due to the impreciseness of law, depriving the HDP from receiving its first treasury grant. However, the final decision regarding the treasury grant will be made by the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK). In addition, possible snap elections will have an impact on the economy, costing an estimated TL 2 billion.
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