Main opposition CHP agrees to snap poll

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Nurettin Canikli, deputy chair of the AKP is to hold a meeting today with the CHP officials for the local elections. AA photo

Main opposition Republican People's Party just agreed on plans to move municipal polls to an earlier date.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have come to an agreement to hold early local elections on Oct. 27, 2013. They had been scheduled to take place in March 2014.

During a meeting with deputies and founders of his party that was closed to press, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday announced that a deal had been struck with the MHP, and said that the two parties were currently working on a related constitutional amendment, the Hürriyet Daily News learned.
Today, Nurettin Canikli, deputy chair of the AKP’s parliamentary group, will hold a meeting with Muharrem İnce, deputy chair of the parliamentary group of the CHP. Canikli is seeking support from the main opposition party for the agreement to hold early local elections next autumn. The CHP has previously objected to the idea of holding early local elections. In any case, as soon as Parliament’s legislative year commences, the AKP and the MHP will submit a joint proposal to set the date for early local elections at Oct. 27, 2013. This will involve the drafting and approving of a temporary article within the Constitution.