Ismail Kahraman becomes head of Turkish parliament

The candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Ismail Kahraman, has been elected as Speaker of the 24th convocation of the Grand National Assembly (parliament) during today’s voting in the Majlis. 

The new parliament was sworn in on November 17th in accordance with the Turkish Constitution. The election of the Speaker was to take place after five days. MPs had to hold three rounds of voting, as none of the candidates received the support of a two-thirds majority, i.e 367 out of 550 members, after the first two rounds. In accordance with the internal charter of the Majlis, in the third round a simple majority of 276 votes is needed for victory. Three candidates from each of opposition parties participated in the elections together with Ismail Kahraman, who received 316 votes, Tass reports. 

Kahraman became the sixth Majlis Speaker of the AKP party. Its deputies have always been elected Speakers of Parliament since 2002, when the party came to power for the first time. He was the first member to be included on the list of candidates for the post of Speaker of Parliament. According to the elections, Ismail Kahraman was chosen for the role of the candidate by the majority of votes.

It is known that the candidacy of Kahraman was recommended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This gesture meant respect for Ismail Kahraman, one of the founders and leaders of the fund Birlik Vakfı ve MTTB. 

The former head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, temporarily headed the Turkish parliament before the elections. After the election of the parliamentary speaker the parliament came into its powers in full measure. It is expected that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu won’t use the entire term provided by the Constitution, in order to form a government within 45 days, and he will present the program of his cabinet to the Majlis in the near future. 

The Justice and Development Party received 49.41% of the votes in the parliamentary elections which took place on November 1st 2015.

The People's Republican Party (CHP) received 25.38% of the votes, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) – 11.93%, the Democratic People's Party (DPN) – 10.7% of the votes.

Other political parties received 2.58% of the votes.