BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- As expected, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul wasn't elected during yesterday's first round of the presidential election. But we saw something important yesterday. The first round showed that the pieces have started to fall into place in Parliament. Its situation can be summarized as follows:
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP): If Gul is elected president on Aug. 28, there will be a series of changes in the Cabinet and within the AKP. Then Erdogan won't face any obstacles like President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's vetoes, which he has complained about. This situation makes Erdogan more answerable to the public and his own body of voters. When the new Cabinet is announced and promises are made in the government program, we'll see how sincere Erdogan is in his policy of `redefining the center, while moving towards the center' from the recent general election campaign. But a big party group, a multi-party opposition and such factors as the presence of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in that opposition might create problems in terms of the group's integrity in the long run.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP): The CHP was the hardest hit in last month's general elections, under the leadership of Deniz Baykal. The Democratic Left Party (DSP) had said that it might work together with CHP in Parliament, but then it quickly left the CHP and uselessly nominated Tayfun Yçli as its president candidate, leaving the CHP alone. But this didn't deter the CHP. CHP deputy leader Mustafa Özyürek was right to say that if you walk by yourself along a road that you know, this doesn't mean that you're wrong. On the other hand, Baykal said that they opposed Gul, but they wouldn't question his legitimacy. He added that the president elected by Parliament will be legitimate. These remarks show that Baykal won't turn his current stance into a blood feud. After the presidential election, the CHP might work to dress its wounds.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP): MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said just after the general elections that they would be present for the presidential vote, and thus opened up Gul's path to the Presidential Palace. There are signs that the opposition line followed by the MHP in Parliament will take its own way and be legitimist. The MHP group has been warned that it shouldn't be caught up in provocations.
Democratic Society Party (DTP): DTP members tried to win points by treating MHP members kindly during the swearing-in ceremony, and then turned to dealing with conditions at the prison where PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is being held. This situation led to new question marks. They requested an opening for a solution to the Kurdish issue in order to support Gul, and while this step was politically legitimate, its pragmatism is debatable. DTP leader Ahmet Turk is an experienced parliamentarian, but the DTP group might face certain problems with their policies, particularly in the short term.
-Democratic Left Party (DSP): The fact that DSP leader doesn't have a seat in Parliament and the DSP lacks a group at the moment might not be so disadvantageous s it first seems. On the contrary, the DSP can use its 13 seats as a political trump card and so make its presence felt.
Moreover, there are three people in Parliament lacking any arithmetical leverage themselves but whose words on certain issues will always be paid attention to. Former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz is the most important of these. Clearly, Yilmaz is following developments in the True Path Party (DYP) and Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) closely and actively.
Muhsin Yazicioglu, who was elected leader of the Great Union Party (BBP) last weekend, showed his supporters' feelings by stating yesterday that he would vote for Gul. Ufuk Uras is also carrying the left wing's stance to Parliament through the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP). For example, he cast a blank ballot in Parliament yesterday, which showed that he would continue his work in Parliament but won't be dependent on the current alternatives. The pieces falling into place also mean determining the ranks, and this started to be clear yesterday.