Türkiye’s next parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on May 14. The polls are considered highly critical with the two-decade rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which has seen economic booms, giant development projects as well as a failed coup, while a six-party opposition coalition that is still in search of a unified candidate to stand against him.
Parliament may decide to renew the elections by a three-fifths majority of the total number of its members. In this case, the general election of Parliament and the presidential election are to be held together. The president also can decide, again leading to parliamentary and presidential elections being held together.
According to the Constitution's Article 101, the president’s term of office shall be five years. “A person may be elected as the President of the Republic for two terms at most.” However, Article 116 indicates that “If the Assembly decides to renew the elections during the second term of the President of the Republic, he/she may once again be a candidate.”
Currently, the People’s Alliance fails to secure the necessary 360 yes votes by deputies, which would require opposition support.
However, the constitutional changes of the 2017 referendum also lead to the interpretation that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who won the 2018 elections, was elected for the first time within the scope of the new system and can thus run for a second time as indicated in Article 101.
Turkish voters narrowly endorsed an executive presidency in the April 16, 2017 referendum with 51.4% of the votes in favor. The official transition to the new system took place when Erdoğan took the presidential oath of office in Parliament after the June 24, 2018, general elections, during which he won 52.6% of the votes. The presidential system abolished the prime minister's office and concentrated most powers in the hands of the president. The presidential office had been a largely ceremonial post until then.
“We would be pleased if our Parliament, with a three-fifths majority, makes this date update according to our Constitution. If the required majority in the assembly is not achieved, we, as the president, will make our decision and start the process with a calendar that will ensure that the elections can be held on May 14,” Erdoğan said on the issue recently.
According to Article 3 of the Presidential Election Law, if a decision is made to renew the elections, this decision will be published in the Official Gazette within 48 hours and the general election of the president and deputies will be held on the first Sunday following the 60th day.
The president announced that he would declare the election date officially on March 10 with his presidential authority.
The changes made in the law for elections are not applied until one year has passed. The Law on the Amendment of the Law on Elections, which included the lowering of the election threshold for political parties from 10 to 7%, was published in the Official Gazette on April 6, 2021. Therefore, the amendments can be applied to elections after April 6, 2023.
If no candidate secures over 50% of the vote, a second round of voting would be held on the second Sunday following the first ballot, which would be May 28.
“The two candidates who received the greatest number of votes in the first ballot will run for the second ballot, and the candidate who receives a majority of valid votes shall be elected President of the Republic,” the constitution says.
