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Opposition boosts Gül's presidency hopes

Today's Zaman, July 27 - Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül's troubled bid for presidency boycotted by the opposition, challenged by the military and eventually blocked by the Constitutional Court is likely to succeed this time with the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) announcing his deputies will attend the vote.

The attendance of the MHP, which has 70 seats in the 550-member Parliament, will make it easier for Parliament to reach a quorum of 367 legislators, which the Constitutional Court said was compulsory for a vote on the president to be valid. The court canceled the first vote, held in April, on the grounds that there were less than 367 deputies in attendance, upholding a complaint from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

In remarks published Thursday in Milliyet and Akşam newspapers, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli said his party would attend the next presidential vote, saying this is "what consistency requires." He said: "We will be there that day. We will enter the General Assembly Hall on the day of the voting."

Bahçeli also said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has the right to elect any nominee they wish as the president, dismissing an argument from the CHP that the next president should be elected by compromise. "The decision belongs to the AK Party entirely. They can elect whomever they want," he said. "We may not back their candidate. And they don't need this either," he added, referring to the constitutional norms allowing election of the president by simple majority vote of 276 deputies in the third round of the vote. more in Today's Zaman

Labels: Luar Negeri, Turkey