BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- It was expected that Koksal Toptan would be elected Parliament speaker in the third round with the votes of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). But in fact this was achieved with the help of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) along with other members of the opposition. What Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after Toptan was elected had a direct bearing on the upcoming presidential election. He said it was an important step for the new Parliament to choose Toptan as its speaker with such high participation and 450 votes, adding he hoped to see more of the same. Considering these statements, can we say that Erdogan believes they may get similar results in the upcoming presidential election? It's hard to say. Erdogan knows very well how thorny the process will be. What CHP leader Deniz Baykal said when Toptan visited him before being elected signaled this. Expressing his pleasure about Toptan as a compromise candidate, Baykal said that they hoped the same would happen for the presidential election and that they would lend their support to the AKP if it continues this spirit of compromise. What Baykal means is clear: He doesn't want Abdullah Gul to run for president again. He implied that they could even vote for the AKP's candidate if Erdogan doesn't nominate Gul. Responding to this, however, Erdogan said that democracy wouldn't let the people's will be put aside, signaling that Toptan's election won't have a direct impact on the presidential race.
Gul should still be a candidate, as he said both during and after last month's general elections that he couldn't ignore the nation's will. Moreover, as long as Erdogan sticks to what he said on April 24, Gul's candidacy is still valid. Erdogan never said that he renounced Gul's candidacy. The messages of compromise Erdogan gave after the general elections led to this impression. But is it possible that Erdogan means a kind of compromise on the method of election? The election of the Parliament speaker was a compromise over the method. The ruling AKP didn't go to the opposition parties with various names. They declared a candidate who the majority could agree on. Another factor is that since Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Bahceli announced that his party would be in Parliament for the presidential vote, the quorum of 367 in the first and second rounds of the presidential election is no longer a problem. Thus Gul or another candidate may win in the third round with 276 or more votes.