Turkey's Constitutional Court invalidates first round in presidential elections

May 1, 2007

Turkey's has annulled the first round of voting in the, ruling that there were not enough members present at the parliamentary vote for it to be valid. The court ruled 9-2 in favor of the challenge.

Opposition parties, who boycotted the vote, challenged the result in court on the grounds that the were not enough MPs in attendance to achieve which is set at two-thirds of the 550 member. The government argued that only one-third or 184 MPs were needed for quorum.

In Friday's vote, got 357 votes. The governing party, (AKP) has 363 of the 550 seats in parliament. The main opposition party, (CHP), holds 178 seats. Independents hold the remaining 9 seats.

Government spokesperson said the government will seek to have the required 367 MPs in attendance for a new vote on Wednesday. If the age limit for MPs is lowered to 25 from the current 30, the government is ready to call early parliamentary elections. Early polls have been sought by the opposition and business interests.