ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) on Friday said they are fielding a candidate to race against the ruling party for the post of parliament speaker.
“We have submitted the candidacy application of our Diyarbakir lawmaker Cengiz Candar, whom we nominated for the parliament speakership election, to the general secretariat of the parliament,” the DEM Party said on X.
The parliament will vote on Tuesday to replace incumbent speaker.
The parliament opened doors for political parties to submit their candidates on Wednesday. A new speaker will be elected in a secret ballot on Tuesday. A candidate must get 400 votes from the 600-seat legislature to win on the first or second ballot. If a third round of voting is required, then the threshold drops to 301 votes. If no candidate is able to achieve the absolute majority, the vote will enter a fourth round where the candidate with most of the votes will become the next speaker of the parliament, according to Turkish media.
The ruling coalition of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are reportedly fielding the incumbent speaker AKP’s Numan Kurtulmus for a second term.
DEM Party’s Sirri Sureyya Onder, who passed away on May 3, held the position of deputy speaker in the first term.
The People's Alliance, mostly made up of AKP and MHP, has 321 seats in the parliament while the DEM Party has 56.
Candar is a veteran journalist who was elected to the parliament in 2023.
