TURKISH Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has been tasked to form an interim government ahead of new elections that have been officially confirmed for November 1.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday gave Davutoglu five days to form a government following an inconclusive vote in June and the collapse of coalition-building efforts.
The interim administration will be in power for just two months after the country’s election board on Tuesday set November 1 as the date for the poll, marking the first time that Turkish parties have ever failed to form a government after an election.
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have refused to take part in the caretaker election government.
The decision by the two main opposition parties means Davutoglu will need to form an interim cabinet with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) as well as non-partisan figures outside parliament.
The opposition accuses Erdogan of triggering a new election in the hope that the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which he founded, can win back the parliamentary majority it lost in June and again rule alone.
Erdogan refused to give the main opposition party’s leader the opportunity to try to form a government.
Opinion polls, however, suggest that the new election may not reverse the AKP’s losses and another hung parliament is a possibility.
The ruling party lost its parliamentary majority in the June 7 election for the first time since 2002.
‘Responsibility’
On Tuesday, Davutoglu urged opposition parties to join his interim administration, saying they had a responsibility to shoulder the burden.
“You cannot lead a country by shutting the doors,” Davutoglu said. “Come let’s take this responsibility together.”
The new election deepens uncertainty in Turkey as it is grappling with a sharp increase in violence between security forces and Kurdish fighters and is more deeply involved in the US-led campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
More than 100 people – mostly soldiers and police – have been killed since July in renewed conflict between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and security forces.
Opponents have accused Erdogan of escalating the conflict against the PKK in a bid to win nationalists’ support and discredit the pro-Kurdish party, whose gains in the June election deprived the ruling party of its majority. The government denies the accusations. (Al Jazeera)
Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/turkey-pm-form-interim-government-poll-150825153106413.html
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