TURKIYE- Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna writes on the prospect of early elections and their possible effect on the country. A summary of his column is as follows:
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli has said that early elections might be held on Sunday, Nov 3. He proposed that the government stay in power and the Parliament hold an extraordinary session, on Sept. 1, to decide on early polls. Our adaptation laws to the European Union's accession criteria and amending the Law on Political Parties and the Elections, however, were left unmentioned. The EU issue is being left up to the new Parliament and the new government. This is the kind of attitude Mr. Bahceli had to adopt, so it's nothing to be criticized. Technology should be used to cast votes and in determining the results of elections. We should leave behind medieval practices and try to keep up with modern times. The date for the elections, Nov. 3, was chosen after careful consideration as Turkey might be heading towards a rehearsal of a mini disaster in December. Such a disaster seems impending due to the fact that the Turkish people are in seriously incapable hands. Rejection by Brussels on the one hand, war in Iraq on the other ... there's no guessing how national fury will affect voting patterns. So it is important that elections are held before the U.S. congressional elections and any strike against in Iraq, and certainly before a rejection from Brussels and the harm it could do to the Turkish economy. The government problem is important, but the EU issue is vital. So the political parties have only the month of July to put their act together. It shouldn't be forgotten that the EU will start preparing its progress report not in December, but September.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION