MESOP : BUILT COALITION OR VOTE AGAIN / Election inevitable if talks fail: Erdogan

15 June 2015 – If both incumbent ruling and main opposition party fail to form the new government within the constitutional limit, then a snap election is “inevitable,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated.

“As a requirement of my political responsibilities, I would first give the mandate to the leader of the political party that got the highest vote. Then we will all together see the developments. If he cannot form it, then, again as a requirement of my political morale, I would this time give the mandate to the leader of the party that got the second highest number of vote. As you know, there is 45-day process. God willing, it won’t extend beyond this,” he told a group of journalists en route from Baku to Istanbul on June 13, Hurriyet daily reported. Turkey’s 63rd government must be formed within 45 days of the mandate being formally given, which pushes the Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader and incumbent Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to engage in coalition negotiations with other political parties. The president has the right to take the country to early polls if political parties fail to form a government within 45 days. “If everything takes place in its natural course and a coalition is formed then there would be no problem,” he replied, when asked whether any “surprise” could be expected throughout these 45 days. “But if the party that came first in the election cannot achieve [forming a government] and neither can the second one … then going to the ballot box again as per the constitution would be inevitable. I don’t call this a snap election, but a re-run,” he added.