'Restoration gov't' on opposition's agenda to shift Turkey back to parliamentary system

Nergis Demirkaya /DUVAR

Turkey's next parliamentary polls are not due until 2023, but the country might go to early elections anytime after June of this year, which has led to talks about the possibility of an election alliance between opposition parties in a bid to form a “restoration government” afterwards.

This coalition government will work towards shifting the country back to parliamentary system, which characterized the Turkish Republic from its founding to June 24, 2018, i.e. when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan formally transformed the system into a heavily centralized presidential one, anonymous representatives of various opposition parties have told Gazete Duvar.

These sources said that as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) sees its support dwindling, especially after last year's local election defeats by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and its İYİ (Good) Party ally, there is a high chance that the government will opt for early elections this year, which makes it compulsory for the opposition to prepare ahead.

In the face of country's troubled economic circumstances, its strained diplomatic ties with allies and new breakaway parties, the post-Erdoğan era is soon to come, according to political backstage debates. Sources have told Gazete Duvar that the “artificial crises” and “controlled tensions” manufactured by the AKP in an attempt to draw attention away from other shortcomings are no longer enough to keep the party in power. The AKP can no longer promise anything new for its party grassroots, according to backstage debates, with one politician saying of this as follows: “Erdoğan's biggest trick was the presidential system; and now that he played this trick, he accomplished his biggest objective. What can he promise more? He has run out of stories.”

Such discussions on a post-Erdoğan era have led the opposition to put forward scenarios in shaping the Turkish politics. Sources have told Gazete Duvar that talks of an election alliance in an attempt to rule the country under a coalition government for two years during this post-Erdoğan era are now on the table.

The opposition parties should not let their differences in hindering such an alliance from taking place as their sole target should be to actualize this scenario for the sake of democracy and parliamentary system, according to sources. Several opposition parties' support for Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu against his AKP rival Binali Yıldırım during the repeat race on June 23, 2019 is an example of such a solidarity among the parties.

Although this extended alliance between opposition parties does not currently go beyond being a backstage debate, it will certainly move onto the parties' executive bodies soon this year.