Turkish PM in caretaker gov't 'final call'

ANKARA

 Turkish Prime Minister and Justice and Development (AK) Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday issued what he said was a “final call” on the Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to join efforts to form a caretaker government that will usher the country to an early election.

"Ahead of Aug. 23 deadline, let us do our job by taking the decision for a government [and] early election inside the parliament without the need for the president's decree," Davutoglu told a press conference at his party's headquarters in capital Ankara.

"I am ready to sit at the table according to the agenda, time and place [the two parties’ leaders] want," said Davutoglu.

After the June 7 general election produced no single-party government, Davutoglu was asked by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to form a new government on July 9 within a 45-day time frame, which ends on Sunday.

Since July 13, he met with both CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and MHP leader Devlet Bahceli in abortive coalition talks.

Both leaders have since also announced they would not name cabinet members for a caretaker government.

In the case that the deadline expires without a government, either President Erdogan or the parliament may decide to hold a new election.

If a decision is issued, the polling is supposed to be held in the first Sunday following a 90-day period starting from the end of the first deadline. It suggests renewed polling might be held in November.

In his remarks, the prime minister also touched on ongoing terror acts across the country and vowed to take "all kinds of measures" to protect the democracy.

"We will not allow suspension of democracy in Turkey," said Davutoglu and expressed resolution in the face of terrorist attacks, most of which the Turkish Armed Forces have said were carried out by outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). 

Davutoglu indicated that forming a government with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), in the absence of the CHP and MHP, would be a “constitutional obligation”.

He reiterated that he would name the HDP cabinet members himself, a practice he said was in accordance with the constitution, although the party said it would seek to name its ministers on its own.

In a potential caretaker government, the AK Party is likely to have 12 ministers, the CHP to have seven while the MHP and the HDP will have three ministers each, according to number of seats in parliament.

The Turkish constitution stipulates that the number of cabinet members to be taken from political party groups shall be determined by the parliament speaker and communicated to the prime minister.