ANKARA, December 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Turkish lawmakers on Friday, December 13, adopted a series of constitutional amendments paving the way for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), to be elected to parliament and become prime minister.

Of the 461 legislators present in the 550-seat house, 440 voted in favor of the amendments in a second and final round of voting, well above the necessary two-thirds parliamentary majority required to amend the constitution without a public referendum.

Only 18 law-makers voted against the changes, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The amendments had been approved by an overwhelming majority in parliament in a first round of voting on Tuesday, December 10.

The changes will allow Erdogan to run in future elections.

He was banned from taking part in the November 3 elections -- in which his party won an overwhelming majority of seats in parliament -- because of a 1998 conviction imposed on him for reciting a poem allegedly with Islamic tones at a political rally.

The AKP, a conservative party, has set up a government headed by Erdogan’s right-hand man, Abdullah Gul.

Erdogan might be able to run in a by-election as early as February or March 2003 following a decision by the electoral board to cancel election results in Siirt, in the southeast of the country, because ballots boxes were broken.

His candidacy must first however be approved by the electoral board.

Following the changes agreed by parliament, only those convicted on "terrorism charges" will now be barred from running in elections and not those convicted of "ideological offences", like Erdogan.

A second amendment eases conditions under which a by-election can be called.

Many observers already see Gul as the temporary prime minister and Erdogan as the driving force behind the government.