The new year is expected to be the scene of a series of elections in higher judicial bodies as the term of office of some of the high authorities comes to an end.
The first elections are expected to be for Supreme Election Council (YSK) members at the end of January. Six of the YSK members are being elected from within the Supreme Court, while the other five will be from within the Council of State. Among these members, the term of office of the head of the YSK, Sadi Güven, as well as of the other members like Faruk Kaymak, Refik Eğri, Zeki Yiğit, İlhan Hanağası and Nakiddin Nuğday, comes to an end on Jan. 23. Thus, from both the Supreme Court and Council of State, three members each will be determined for the YSK.
The elections are expected to take place in the second week of January. The new YSK members will be elected by the general assemblies of both the Supreme Court and the Council of State. After the election of the six new members, the new name to pursue the duty of YSK president and replace Güven will be determined. With this aim, the YSK members will come together and elect a president from among themselves.
Another election will take place in the Supreme Court itself for the position of first presidency of the court. Current President İsmail Rüştü Cirit’s term in office will come to an end on March 23 as he will retire due to his age. The General Assembly of the court is expected to elect a new president who will be on duty for the upcoming four years.
In the Council of State, on the other hand, the head of the council, Zerrin Güngör, will be replaced through election since she is expected to retire on March 20 due to, once again, her age.
Lastly, the Constitutional Court is also expected to go to the polls to replace a member – the vice president of the court, Recep Kömürcü, who will retire on April 3. The election will be made by the Supreme Court's General Assembly. The top three names will be sent to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who will choose one of those names to be the new member of the court.