In MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's recent parliamentary speech, the issue of President Erdoğan's candidacy for another term came up again. Erdoğan, who became president in 2014, was elected president twice more in the presidential system adopted by the 2017 referendum, in the 2018 and 2023 elections. Whether he will be a candidate in 2028 is a subject of debate from time to time.
In his statement, Bahçeli said, “If the inflation monster is dealt a decisive blow and Turkey reaches the peak of political and economic stability, is it not a natural and right choice for our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to be elected once again? What are we going to do, look for a candidate in the CHP with four years to go?” Bahçeli said and continued as follows:
“In this context, shouldn't making the necessary constitutional arrangements be among the tasks ahead of us? For continuity in the state, stability in politics, and the construction of the Turkish Century, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the only option for us with his experience and knowledge.”
PARLIAMENT'S DECISION FOR EARLY ELECTIONS IS ENOUGH
Bahçeli thinks that Erdoğan's candidacy requires a constitutional amendment, but this is not exactly the case. Under the current system, Erdoğan cannot run for a third term if he calls early elections or if he uses his term to the end and holds elections on time. However, constitutional law expert Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tolga Şirin reminded that under the current system, Erdoğan can run for a third term if the Parliament decides to hold early elections.
In other words, Bahçeli needs his party and the AK Party to make sacrifices and decide on early elections together with the opposition in order for Erdoğan to run for another term. For a constitutional amendment or early elections, 360 deputies are needed. The People's Alliance has 320 deputies in total, 266 for the AK Party, 50 for the MHP and 4 for HÜDAPAR.
MHP ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH
Since it is unlikely that the opposition will say no to the People's Alliance's decision to call early elections for Erdoğan, the only thing left to do is for Bahçeli to call for early elections instead of taking the difficult path of constitutional change. However, the MHP's support for the opposition alone is not enough for the parliament to decide on early elections.
So in any case, AK Party members who want their leader to run for another term will have to risk an early election for their leader.