MILLIYET- Columnist Derya Sazak comments on the road map to be followed by incoming ruling party the Justice and Development Party. A summary of his column is as follows:
The 58th government to be established by Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Abdullah Gul is expected to be on duty later this week. The AKP administration started to work on putting together a new cabinet yesterday. Gul and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have the final say on the new ministers. Since Nov. 3, Turkey has been living under an unprecedented situation, i.e. a Parliament of only two parties, the ruling party having a constitutional majority with 363 votes, the leader/prime ministry split due to Erdogan’s political ban, etc. Gul faces a lot of difficulties ahead. As he stated after leaving the Cankaya Presidential Palace, he will try to open the way soon from an ‘abnormal’ situation to ‘normalization.’ Perhaps Gul will leave the prime ministry to Erdogan just when he is at the top of his game. He will be satisfied with being the ‘second man’ or foreign minister in the role of ‘the AKP’s face for the West.’ Erdogan and Gul’s guiding principle for the new cabinet will be avoiding the need for future shakeups. The recent visits to the Presidential Palace are giving clues about ‘different preferences.’ When Erdogan went to the palace twice, he was accompanied by Abdulkadir Aksu and Vecdi Gonul, two other candidates for the prime ministry post. When President Ahmet Necdet Sezer appointed Gul, this problem was solved. Gul went to the Presidential Palace with Ertugrul Yalcinbayir and Murat Mercan. Instead of insisting on constitutional changes for the prime ministry qualifications, Yalcinbayir supported Gul’s candidacy. Bulent Arinc’s importance also cannot be denied in terms of the balances within the AKP. Following a visit paid to him, Arinc said that he was willing to be Parliament speaker. So if Gonul also insists on getting the speakership, would the AKP parliamentary assembly hold an election between them? Obviously the important thing for the AKP is to step up firmly to its power. This is early for a fight for the chair. The first 100 days of the ‘urgent action’ plan as announced by Erdogan are important. The Copenhagen summit, the future of the European Union and Cyprus will give the first impressions in terms of the success and continuity of Gul’s government.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION