The ruling party's candidate list for deputies in the upcoming parliamentary election carries the imprint of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while more than half the current deputies have been left off the list.
A total of 175 out of 312 ruling party deputies currently in Parliament found themselves eliminated after the party's candidate list was submitted to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Seventy of the current ruling party deputies were not able to apply to become candidates as they are on their third consecutive term in Parliament.
A total of 105 of the remaining 242 Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies are not included on the ruling party's candidate list, either, Şentop told reporters after submitting the party's candidate list to the YSK.
A three-term rule, self-imposed by the ruling party, limits its deputies to three consecutive terms in office.
The flexing of muscles between Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has also been reflected in Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç's reported opposition to the inclusion of the son of the ruling party's Ankara mayor on the party's candidate list.
The Hürriyet daily's web portal maintained on Tuesday that Arınç, who was recently involved in a bitter exchange of accusations with the ruling party's Ankara mayor, said the mayor's son should not be included on the list if Arınç is respected in any way as a senior figure in the party.
Arınç denied over Twitter on Tuesday that he had made the remark reported by the daily's web portal, saying it is to sow seeds of unrest within the ruling party that such reports appear. Arınç is among those who cannot run for deputy as he is on his third consecutive term as deputy.
At around 4:20 p.m., the party's deputy chairman, Şentop, presented the candidate list to the YSK. Out of the 550 ruling party candidates, 99 are women.
The names of the candidates on the ruling AK Party deputy list were not officially announced when Today's Zaman went to print.
Şentop said the party's candidate list would be loaded on the AK Party's web page.
After submitting the list to the YSK, what Şentop told reporters implied that Gökçek's son may not be included on the ruling party's list of candidates.
Those with blood ties to those in office from the ruling party have not been included on the list, Şentop said at a press meeting.
But Berat Albayrak, Erdoğan's son-in-law, has appeared on the AK Party list of candidates, according to last-minute reports.
Şentop also indirectly admitted that Erdoğan had also a role in the preparation of the ruling party's list, noting that Erdoğan headed the party for long years.
Osman Gökçek, son of Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Melih Gökçek, has been claimed to have been included on the party's candidate list.
Although Gökçek's son may not have been included on the ruling party's list, the struggle between Erdoğan and Davutoğlu over who will have the final say on the party's candidate list has apparently ended in the president's favor.
Ankara Mayor Gökçek recently called on Deputy Prime Minister Arınç to resign from the government, accusing him of being a member of a "parallel state," a term coined by President Erdoğan to describe the faith-based Gülen movement, or Hizmet, in order to defame it.
In return, Arınç accused Gökçek of trying to win the favor of Erdoğan and ensure that his son who had applied to the AK Party to run for deputy be included on the party's list of candidates.
If claims are true that Osman Gökçek is included on the ruling party list, Arınç's latest remark about Osman may be interpreted as a message to Prime Minister Davutoğlu to block the son's candidacy.
In the rift between the government and president, which appeared after Erdoğan started to intervene in the government in an attempt to control everything, Arınç has sided with Prime Minister Davutoğlu and publicly blasted Erdoğan several times for his interference.
Erdoğan, nicknamed “chief” in the AK Party, headed the AK Party governments and the party for more than 11 years before being elected president in August last year.
In an apparent effort to convince the public that he is, as head of the AK Party, in charge of preparing the ruling party's candidate list, Davutoğlu recently told reporters that he was working on the list.
But it has been widely rumored that Erdoğan was involved in all the stages of the selection of ruling party candidates, even though he is constitutionally required to be impartial in office.
Erdoğan has been claimed to have worked on the ruling party's candidate list at the presidential palace until midnight on Monday before he left for Iran early on Tuesday.
Erdoğan was reportedly presented the list of candidates drawn up by a high-level party council headed by Prime Minister Davutoğlu. It was also claimed that Mustafa Şentop, AK Party deputy chairman in charge of elections, and Süleyman Soylu, another deputy chairman who is in charge of the party organization, were with Erdoğan as he went over the list. Davutoğlu was also rumored to have gone to the presidential palace late in the night to be part of the final work.
All indicate that loyalty to Erdoğan is the main criteria in the selection of candidates who will run on the ruling party's ticket.
Figures who have adamantly defended Erdoğan and the government following two sweeping graft probes that went public in December of 2013 seems to have been included on the party's list of candidates.
Apart from Gökçek's son, a columnist of Armenian descent Markar Esayan, an AK Party deputies Şamil Tayyar and Mehmet Metiner, Hüseyin Yayman, a former professor of public administration, and journalist Halime Kökçe, who have all been vigorously fighting for Erdoğan's cause, are reportedly among those included on the list.
Ali Özkaya, who is Erdoğan's lawyer, is also reportedly among the ruling party candidates.
Some of the current AK Party deputies may appear on the candidate list, but only in places where it is highly unlikely for them to get elected.
Liberals, those from the liberal left and Alevis are not expected to appear on the ruling party's candidate list. Instead, candidates who appeal to nationalist and religious voters are expected to appear more prominently on the list.
Election calendar:
The Supreme Election Board (YSK) treats the list of candidates submitted by parties on Tuesday as "interim lists." The finalized lists have to be completed by April 20 and submitted to the YSK on the same day. The list will be published in the Official Gazette on April 24. Here is how the calendar works:
April 11: Last day to submit missing documents for candidates running on party tickets or independently.
April 15: The interim list for candidates is published in the Official Gazette and announced on radio and TV.
April 16: Last day to submit challenges to interim lists. Petitions have to be presented to provincial election boards.
April 19: Last day to notify the YSK about names withdrawn from interim candidate lists. The YSK asks political parties to fill vacancies on their lists after candidates drop out due to death, withdrawal or successful challenges.
April 20: Last day to finalize missing documents on candidate lists and to submit them to the YSK.
April 24: The final list of candidates is officially announced by the YSK.
Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/national_ak-party-axes-many-nominates-loyalis...
