Turkish Parliament Approves Early Elections in November
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Ecevit |
ANKARA,
August 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Turkish lawmakers on
Wednesday, July 31, adopted a plan to hold an early election in
November 2002, delivering a major blow to embattled Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit and spelling a likely end to his four-decade career.
The
polls come at a time when Turkey is under pressure to advance its
lagging bid to join the European Union and amid mounting fears that
the United States could launch a military strike against neighboring
Iraq, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The
election decision was approved by 449 MPs in the 550-seat house
despite several unsuccessful attempts by the 77-year-old Ecevit to
block snap polls on the grounds that they would drag the country into
further economic and political turmoil.
But
early elections were embraced by all other political parties,
including Ecevit’s two partners in his shaky coalition government,
as a way out of a political stalemate which has braced the country
since early May 2002 when Ecevit, increasingly frail in recent years,
fell seriously ill.
As
the five-time prime minister began absenting himself from official
duties, his government hit a deadlock over democracy reforms crucial
to Turkey’s EU membership bid.
Turkish
press reports said Wednesday an attack against Iraq could force the
postponement of elections under a constitutional article which
stipulates that polls should be delayed for a year in case of war.
Ecevit
was forced to agree reluctantly to November elections after his
government lost its parliamentary majority amid a mass defection from
his Democratic Left Party (DSP), but then fought vigorously against
the move.
The
veteran leader has argued that early polls could derail a crucial
economic recovery program backed by a 16-billion-dollar loan from the
International Monetary Fund at a time when the economy is showing
signs of emerging from its worst recession in years.
He
also claims the polls could propel into power Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a
popular and formerly pro-Islamist politician, with potentially stormy
repercussions in a country where the army, the self-appointed guardian
of secularism, wields a strong influence in politics, AFP said.
The
popularity of the ruling parties has nose-dived since an economic
crisis last year, which resulted in about one million lay-offs, and
Ecevit’s party is likely to be left outside parliament.
The
opposition was joyous after Wednesday’s vote.
“I
am so happy because what the public wants has been achieved,” Tansu
Ciller, who head the center-left True Path Party (DYP), told NTV
television.
Erdogan,
the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK), meanwhile,
predicted a victory for his party in the polls.
“God
willing AK will win the elections and come to power alone,” Erdogan
told NTV.
Now
with the election date set, focus will turn on a package of
E.U.-sought reforms submitted to parliament last week by the junior
coalition partner, the Motherland Party (ANAP), which financial
markets are eagerly anticipating.
The
parliament’s justice commission on Wednesday began discussions on
the package, which ANAP wants to be passed before the elections.
But
many doubt that MPs will knuckle down to legislative work rather than
electioneering.
ANAP
has failed to garner the necessary opposition support to adopt the
package, which includes controversial reforms such as the abolition of
the death penalty and expanded cultural rights for the Kurdish
minority.
The
reforms are opposed by Ecevit’s far-right coalition partner and now
the biggest party in parliament, the Nationalist Action Party (MHP).
Turkey,
the laggard of all 13 E.U. hopefuls, fears that it could be left out
of enlargement plans if it fails to secure a date for opening
accession talks by the end of the year.
Another
growing concern for Turkey, a staunch U.S. ally within NATO, is a
military operation against Iraq, which Washington has labeled part of
an “axis of evil” along with North Korea and Iran.
Ecevit
on Tuesday, July 30, reiterated his concerns about such an operation,
which Ankara fears could have grave economic repercussions and upset
fragile political balances in the region.
“That
is why we are trying to dissuade the U.S. administration from a
military operation and we are trying to explain to them that we will
seriously contribute to peace in Iraq... without the need for such
military operation,” he told ATV television.
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