2013 Turkish Parliament Speaker election

2013 Turkish Parliament Speaker elections

2 July 2013
548 of 550 Members of Parliament voting in the Grand National Assembly 367 votes needed to win in the first two rounds 276 votes needed to win in the third round
Nominee Cemil Çiçek Osman Korutürk Faruk Bal Party AK Party CHP MHP Constituency Ankara (II) İstanbul (I) Konya Round 1 292 (64.7%) 108 (23.9%) 51 (11.3%) Round 2 294 (65.2%) 110 (24.4%) 47 (10.4%) Round 3 299 (65.7%) 109 (24.0%) 47 (10.3%)
Speaker before election Cemil Çiçek AK Party Elected Speaker Cemil Çiçek AK Party

The mid-term Turkish Parliament Speaker elections of 2013 were held on 2 July 2013 in order to elect the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly. The election took place in three rounds, resulting in the incumbent Speaker Cemil Çiçek being re-elected to continue serving until the end of the 24th Parliament. The election took place half-way through the term of the 24th Parliament, which lasted from June 2011 to June 2015.

Three candidates contested the election, with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) re-nominating Çiçek. The Republican People's Party (CHP) nominated Osman Korutürk while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) nominated Faruk Bal. The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) did not put forward a candidate. Çiçek was elected in the third round, winning 299 votes to Korutürk's and Bal's.

Election process

The Speaker is elected by secret ballot through a maximum of four rounds held within Parliament, with a two-thirds majority of 367 votes to be elected outright in the first two rounds. If the election goes into a third round, the votes needed to win is lowered to a simple majority (276) votes. If the election goes into a fourth round, the top two candidates who won the most votes in the third round contest a run-off, with the candidate winning the highest number of votes being elected.

Candidates

Potential candidates

Before the candidates were announced, it was speculated that Burhan Kuzu could be selected as the AKP's nominee. When the AKP eventually settled for Çiçek, Kuzu released a statement claiming that he was not resentful but very hurt by the decision.

Declared candidates

• Cemil Çiçek, incumbent Speaker of the Grand National Assembly and AKP Member of Parliament for Ankara's second electoral district
• Osman Korutürk, former Ambassador and CHP Member of Parliament for İstanbul's first electoral district
• Faruk Bal, former Minister of State and MHP Member of Parliament for Konya

• 
  Cemil Çiçek, incumbent Speaker of the Grand National Assembly and AKP Member of Parliament for Ankara's second electoral district
• 
  Faruk Bal, former Minister of State and MHP Member of Parliament for Konya

Results

Party		Candidate	Party MPs	July 2, 2013
				Round 1 367 votes to win	Round 2 367 votes to win	Round 3 276 votes to win
	AKP	Cemil Çiçek	327	292	294	Y 299
	CHP	Osman Korutürk	134	108	110	109
	MHP	Faruk Bal	52	51	47	47
Invalid				10	8	7
Blank				21	24	15
Turnout				482	483	477
Result				Inconclusive	Inconclusive	Çiçek elected
Source: Sabah

See also

• Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly

External links

• Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, official website