As a prelude, please read the TIME story: Islam and the Presidency in Turkey.
"In Turkey, the choosing of a president is rarely the dramatic affair that it is in the United States. Turkey's president isn't even directly elected by the voters — he or she is chosen by the elected parliament — and the office carries limited powers. Still, the president does have the power to veto legislation, and is also considered an important symbol of the Turkish state. That's why the nomination for president this week by Turkey's ruling party of the country's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, has reopened fierce debates about the place of Islam in the ferociously secular Turkish state."
TalkTurkey Editorial: Imagine a vacancy occurs in the Supreme Court. Also imagine it is a few months before the Presidential elections. Imagine that the 'lame duck' President nominates a replacement justice. Then imagine the opposition party threatens to boycott the nomination process and asks for the presidential race to be moved up. The reason: the political leaning of the country may have changed since the last election to favor the opposition. Therefore, any appointment should be considered based on the new election's outcome and the thereby the will of the people.
In reality, Senators are elected every six years, Representatives every two years, And Presidents every four years. It's called checks and balances. Those are the rules of the game and they're not changed if the outcome doesn't look good for the home team during mathematical oddities.
The 'imagine' scenario above is playing out in Turkey right now. The general elections are a few months away. Although highly unlikely, a large numbers of seats may shift between the governing and opposition parties. The last general election was five years ago. But the current president's seven-year term ends on May 16. (The president is elected by the Congress.) And accordingly, a replacement candidate has been introduced by the current majority party.
All by playing by the rules! And as a sign of a rising Islamic middle class.
Now the opposition is signaling it will not participate in the electing of the President process, perhaps for political reasons of attracting more voters for its base. And the opposition wants early general elections so that the 'new' Congress can elect the next President. Why not introduce an amendment to have the general elections and presidential appointments coincide at more favorable timetables for the next time? And this is not something that just popped up on the calendar in the last two days. And everyone had a chance to voice their 'opposition' to the current rules and make the proper changes or have their voices heard.
Instead, they chose to make it a political issue for the time being. And now threatening to change the rules since the outcome is not in their favor. But even if they are successful, the outcome looks bleak for them. Maybe someone needs to remind them that the 'silent' majority in Turkey will be loud and clear come election time, and wipe out the opposition even worse than the last time, for playing with matches inside of a mine field.
Now we'll await the demonstrations. And the counter demonstrations. And then possible riots and provocations. And even civil war as some doomsday experts are expecting. Do the right thing people. Elect the nominee. Welcome to Democracy folks . . . Get over it!
