June 2, 2015 | Memo

2015 Turkish Parliamentary Elections

FDD Research
June 2, 2015 | Memo

2015 Turkish Parliamentary Elections

FDD Research

 

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Major parties

Justice and Development Party (AKP)

  • Conservative, Islamist-rooted

Republican People’s Party (CHP)

  • Kemalist, secularist, social democrat

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)

  • Right-wing, nationalist

Democratic People’s Party (HDP)

  • Left-wing, pro-Kurdish

Key issues

Presidential system: The AKP seeks to amend the constitution to replace Turkey’s parliamentary system with a presidential one. Critics accuse the party of attempting to institute authoritarian, one-man rule.

The Kurds: If the HDP fails to reach the 10% threshold, parliament will have no explicitly Kurdish representation, potentially prompting unrest in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast. But the party faces challenges, mostly due to its former connections to Kurdish separatist movements.

The economy: Inflation and the current account deficit is high; growth is low. The AKP’s longstanding image as Turkey’s economic savior has grown tarnished, and opposition parties have made economics the focus of their campaigns.



Current composition

Total seats available: 550

Total seats occupied: 535

AKP: 311

CHP: 125

MHP: 52

HDP: 29

Independents: 13

Other parties: 5 (1 deputy each)

Three magic numbers

276: Minimum seats to form a government (simple majority)

330: Minimum seats to change the constitution via referendum: (three-fifths majority)

367: Minimum seats to change the constitution unilaterally (two-thirds majority) ­

Seat distribution

Turkey uses a complicated system to calculate electoral results that mixes proportional, region-based representation (known as the D’Hondt method) with a nationwide 10% threshold.


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Issues:

Issues:

Turkey

Topics:

Topics:

Islamism Justice and Development Party Kemalism Kurds Parliament Republican Party Turkey