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Abdullah
Gul
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Additional
reporting by Saad Abdul Majid, IOL Turkey Correspondent
ANKARA,
November 10 (IslamOnline) - Deputy chief of Justice and Development
Party (AK), Abdullah Gul, is agreed upon to be the party's nomination
for the new Turkish Prime Minister, as the party's leader, Receb
Tayyib Erdogan, is banned from holding the post, sources close to the
AK told IslamOnline Sunday, November 10.
"Gul
is the only choice, agreed upon, (by AK figures), to be Premier, as
long as Erdogan will not be able to hold the post, due to the legal
ban," the sources said.
Erdogan
was banned from contesting the polls Monday, November 4, which the AK
overwhelmingly won, becoming in a position to form the government
alone. The AK won 363 seats in the parliament, out of 550.
Gul
is one of the most important intellectual characters behind the AK's
plans to rule Turkey. He enjoys a wide economic experience, as he
worked in the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from
1983 to 1991.
Gul
held several posts, such as the official in charge of international
relations with the two Islamic parties al-Rafaah and Virtue, both were
banned. He was also Minister of State for Islamic Affairs in the
coalition government, led by Islamic leader Nigm Edden Erbakan, from
1996 to 1997.
Meanwhile,
Turkish daily paper Yeni Safak, reported that the AK is trying to
enter some key constitutional amendments, in a bid to enable Erdogan
from holding the post of Prime Minister.
Article
109 of the Turkish constitution states that the Premier must be an
elected member of parliament. The AK seeks to amend it into " all
Turkish citizens have the right to the post". Erdogan was banned
from contesting the last elections because of a political ban, due to
a 1999 charge of "inciting religious hatred".
Also
AK seeks to amend article 76 which bans "any citizen to be a
member of parliament if he was charged due to participation in
ideological actions (speeches, rallies…etc), even if he was pardoned
later.
The
expected amendment, according to the Turkish paper, would make it a
"participation in any terrorist actions".
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Deniz
Baykal
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Meanwhile,
the secularist opposition in Turkey's new parliament voiced support
for the lifting of legal barriers that keep Erdogan from becoming a
Prime Minister, a Turkish newspaper reported Sunday.
Republican
People's Party (CHP) chairman Deniz Baykal told the Milliyet daily
that Erdogan deserved to become Prime Minister after the landslide
victory of his AK.
"The
election outcome shows that this is the will of the people," he
said.
Baykal,
who has long denounced political bans, suggested that parliament amend
the constitutional article that makes Erdogan ineligible for
parliamentary membership.
A
by-election could then be held to get Erdogan into parliament and open
the door for his premiership, he told Milliyet.
Baykal,
however, said the amendments should be part of a broader reform
package, which should also restrict the judicial immunity Turkish MPs
enjoy and shorten the parliament's legislative term from five to four
years.
Baykal's
CHP, which won 178 seats, was the only other party that made it to
parliament. Independent candidates claimed the remaining nine seats.
In
a rare show of solidarity, the two parties have pledged to cooperate
closely on foreign policy matters after the new parliament is formally
inaugurated next week.
