ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has sent out invitations to 11 parliamentarians, offering them ministry posts in the soon to be established caretaker government, Prime Ministry sources said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave Davutoglu the task of forming a provisional administration in the run-up to the November 1 election.
On Wednesday, the prime minister sent out invitations to five Members of Parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and three parliamentarians each from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the sources said.
The parliamentarians have to respond to the invitation in writing by 6 p.m. [1500GMT] on Thursday, they added.
The only party that has so far officially agreed to join a caretaker cabinet is the HDP, which entered parliament for the first time in June with 13 percent of the vote.
A fresh general election in Turkey will be held on November 1, nearly five months after an inconclusive election saw no party win an overall majority. The announcement came after Erdogan called a snap general election on Monday.
Sadi Guven, president of the Supreme Election Board, on Tuesday said that the November 1 election date was decided after taking the approaching winter into account, particularly in eastern and southeastern Turkey. Guven said that a finalized version of the calendar would be ready by Thursday.
Since the June 7 election, which saw the Justice and Development (AK) Party lose its majority and the HDP enter parliament for the first time, Turkey has faced a renewed Kurdish insurgency, threats from Daesh and a plummeting Turkish lira.
The current AK Party cabinet will continue to work until the formation of the interim government.
There are 26 cabinet portfolios up for grabs in the caretaker set up, out of which there is one slot for the prime minister and three slots for the Justice Ministry, Interior Ministry and Transport Ministry that are expected to be filled by three independent candidates; 11 ministries are expected to be taken by the AK Party, five by CHP, three by HDP and three by MHP.
