Erdoğan's re-candidacy debate: What does the legal process indicate?

The debate about whether AKP President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be a candidate again in the presidential election is on the agenda again. Despite the Constitution's provision that "a person can be elected President twice at most", the decision made by the Supreme Electoral Council in the 2023 elections paved the way for Erdoğan's candidacy.

Speaking to Cumhuriyet, Constitutional Lawyer Şule Boyunsuz evaluated the legal situation based on Erdoğan's election history.

According to Boyunsuz, Erdoğan still has a choice. That is, the Turkish Grand National Assembly decided to renew the elections. However, this option also has a critical time limit.

CONTROVERSIAL DECISION FROM YSK

Lawyer Boyunsuz said, "The legal obstacle to Erdoğan's candidacy in the 2023 elections has been overcome with the decision of the YSK."

Boyunsuz stated that in the decision of the YSK dated March 30, 2023, numbered 2023/316, it was accepted that Erdoğan's first term of office started on June 24, 2018, on the grounds that the 2018 elections were the first elections in which the Presidential and Grand National Assembly elections were held together; 'For this reason, the objections to Erdoğan's candidacy were rejected. This decision is controversial. With the 2023 decision of the YSK, the election period for Erdogan was started from 2018. "As a result of this approach, the 2023 election was accepted as the second term for Erdoğan," he said.

CAN ERDOĞAN BE A CANDIDATE ONCE AGAIN?

Article 116 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the Presidential Election Law No. 6271 allow the President to be a candidate once again in his second term if the Turkish Grand National Assembly decides to renew the elections. Law No. 6271 clearly states that "In case the Parliament decides to renew the elections during the President's second term, the President may become a candidate once again."

So here is the crux of the debate.

According to Boyunsuz; Based on YSK's approach in 2023, Erdoğan still has a candidacy path ahead of him:

"According to this decision, although Erdoğan has exhausted his two electoral rights, this option still remains, as he is not considered to have exercised his right to be elected for the last time if the Turkish Grand National Assembly decides to renew the elections with a 3/5 vote, which is regulated in Article 116 of the Constitution."

MAIN CRITICAL THRESHOLD: 60 DAYS

Another critical dimension of the debate is the election calendar.

According to Article 3 of the Presidential Election Law No. 6271, the last Sunday before the end of the term of office is determined as the voting day, and the first day of the 60-day period calculated backwards from the voting day is considered the election start date. Article 2 of the same law gives the YSK the authority to determine the deadlines for the election process by shortening them when necessary.

Therefore, the debate is only "Can the Parliament renew the elections?" It's not just a question.

WHEN THE DECISION WILL BE MADE IS ALSO CRITICAL

Lawyer Boyunsuz points out that the nature of the authority to renew elections will change after the election start date and states that the process should be run before the start of the 60-day election calendar.

In other words, the 60-day period that begins as the election date approaches constitutes a critical threshold from a legal perspective.

“YSK GIVEN FOUR ELECTION RIGHTS”

Boyunsuz summarized the legal picture revealed by the YSK's decision dated 2023 in a striking statement:

"In short, with its decision dated 2023, the YSK gave Erdoğan four election rights. Although the YSK's decision is open to legal debate in many aspects, the decision also made it legally possible for Erdoğan to be a candidate in the 2023 elections. Therefore, the main question in front of the re-candidacy debate today is whether or not the power of the Turkish Grand National Assembly to renew the elections will be used within the scope of Article 116, rather than the two-term limit in Article 101 of the Constitution, and at what stage this will be done. "It gets stuck at the point where it will be done."