Erdoğan’s delay in giving mandate ‘not normal,’ says HDP co-chair

ANKARA – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Speaking one month after the June 7 election, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s delay in giving the mandate to form a government after such a long time had passed was “not normal.” 

“It is not normal that the president has not given the mandate to form a government for such a long time.

Currently there is no extraordinary situation in Turkey. Why are they keeping it waiting for so long?

Honestly, it is not acceptable and comprehendible,” Demirtaş said on July 7. 

Demirtaş added the Justice and Development Party (AKP) had been governing the country in an unlawful and illegal way for the past month, even though it did not have the right to do so. 

Demirtaş said he believed the AKP administration was in favor of a coalition government, while it seemed as though the president preferred early elections. 

“I think the AKP administration is in favor of a coalition government. It seems as though the president is keener on early elections. We predict that the stones would fall into place better with snap elections but it is hard to forecast,” Demirtaş said. “The possibility of an early election weighs heavier as time passes.” 

Commenting on HDP deputy Celal Doğan’s meeting with Erdoğan, Demirtaş said the two knew each other from their days as mayors and the meeting was a personal one. 

“When Celal Doğan was the mayor of Gaziantep, Erdoğan was Istanbul’s mayor. They are acquainted from those days. Doğan’s meeting with the president was within our information but it was a private meeting,” Demirtaş said. “No message was conveyed either from the HDP to the president or from the president to the HDP.”