Erdogan returns as ruling party chief

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, May 22, 2017
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the Extraordinary Congress of the ruling AKP in Ankara, Turkey, May 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the Extraordinary Congress of the ruling AKP in Ankara, Turkey, May 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reinstalled as his party's leader on Sunday after three years at a special congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

He was the sole candidate and elected with votes of 1,414 delegates, and replaced Prime Minister Binali Yildirim after April 16 referendum allowed the president to establish links with a political party.

Erdogan pledged to make massive changes in entire party organization.

"We'll go over major work in the new term. We are determined to realize democratic and economic reform which people demand," he said, addressing thousands of delegates after taking the helm of the ruling party.

"In the upcoming period we will renew our party organization," he said, signaling upcoming efforts to strengthen his party's grassroots for 2019 parliamentary and presidential elections, as Erdogan will need more than 50 percent votes, higher than the latest 49 percent of AKP votes in 2015 elections.

"We have seen how hard it is to get over 50 percent in the 2014 presidential elections and in April 16 referendum. As the AKP, our work is harder now. 34 percent or 40 percent, or even 49.5 percent of votes are not enough to rule. Out goal is 50+1," he said.

"If we want to get this result in the 2019 elections, we should roll up sleeves and start to work immediately. The AKP has not even one minute to waste," he noted.

Erdogan renewed 19 members of the 50-seat of the AKP executive management and included his son-in-law, Minister of Energy Berat Albayrak and some members of the youth organizations and business circles, giving more youthful faces to the administration of the ruling party.

Two ministers from the current cabinet, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak and Labor Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu, along with party spokesman Yasin Aktay, were ruled out of the Central Decision and Executive Board.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu joined the board, along with his predecessor Efkan Ala and former Culture and Tourism minister Mahir Unal.

Erdogan is expected to reshuffle the cabinet next week and then work for renewal of the party organization until this year.

A constitutional amendment approved at a referendum on April 16 paved the way for Erdogan to be a partisan president as the charter change removed a provision banning presidents from retaining affiliations with political parties.

Erdogan had chaired the AKP for 13 years from 2001 but had to step aside when he was elected president in August 2014, as the constitution prevented president from being affiliated with a political party on the grounds of impartiality of the president.

The presidential system stipulated by the amendment will go into full effect in 2019 when a presidential and parliamentary election will be held at the same time.

"I live the peace of handing over my duty," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said at the gathering.

Although the prime minister handed over its party chairmanship, Erdogan still can not head the AKP's parliamentary group as he is not a lawmaker at the parliament. Therefore, the ruling party has changed its regulation at the congress, so that Yildirim will be elected as the parliament group chairman on May 24 to become the acting chairman of the party.

More than 60,000 participants across Turkey, including the representatives of the political parties, previous deputies, provincial heads, opinion leaders, people with disabilities, martyrs, veterans and foreign representatives, were invited to the congress.

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