Gul withdraws candidacy for Presidency
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul who is the only candidate for the Presidency has today withdrawn his candidacy. Gul’s withdrawal does not come as a surprise as in the repeat first round of the presidential vote in the Parliament the required 2/3 quorum coul dnot be attained. Announcing the withdrawal of his candidacy Gul underlined that he did not want to continue with the remaining three rounds as he did not want to further “damage the credibility of the Parliament”. He added that from now on it was up to the Turkish people to decide who the next President would be.
The current situation is a true mess and full with uncertainty. The pro-establishment opposition parties will try to stop the constitutional amendment under way which would call for the President to be elected by popular vote. In any event it seems very unlikely from a procedural perspective to have the two elections at the same time.
I am attaching an FT piece about Gul’s withdrawal below.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/01834d72-fbe2-11db-93a4-000b5df10621.html
The coming days will witness a struggle between the AK Party and the opposition on the proposed constitutional amendment. It is unclear which side came out victorious out of the recent political crisis. What is clear is that the only way out of this mess is an early election as soon as possible. Currently, it is scheduled for July 22.