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Tuesday 06th of January 2009 02:47:16 PM GMT+2

Lists show parties moving to center

Ilnur Cevik

06 June 2007

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

The Justice and Development (AK) Party was founded on the ashes of political Islam but its founders insisted that the party did not have any religious agenda. In the 2002 elections the candidates fielded by the AK Party was dominated by those from former Islamic political backgrounds.
This time that has changed.
The AK Party list shows that party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to give a message to the voters at home and the international community that it is moving closer to the center and its will underline its democratic and modern identity with its large women contingency.
The failure of the merger between the True Path Party (later it became the Democrat Party) and the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) has now placed AK Party as the undisputed representative of the center-right in these elections…
Is this an advantage for the AK Party? The answer is yes when it comes to improving its image as a modern party that cherishes democratic values. At least 160 deputies with some religious background have been left out of the list of candidates which is a coup. This may prove to be useful for the party under normal conditions but when it comes to a crisis situation it may prove problematic. The people from the Islamic political background show more respect to party discipline and unity and can unite for a joint cause but in times if the AK Party is involved in a showdown with the military these deputies may turn into a liability.
The list of the Republican People's Party, meanwhile, shows that the party is moving away from its left-wing roots and is concentrating more on being the representative of the masses with secularist sensitivities who want to preserve the "basic values of the Republic."
It has conservatives, prominent personalities as well as Democratic Left Party people built in essence it is a coalition of a mixture of ideologies who are united to defend the values of the rigid state.
So the battle will be between the traditionalists represented by the CHP and the AK Party which will use reforms and democracy as its banner.
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) which may pass the ten percent threshold and enter the Parliament as the third and last party seems to have taken lessons form the past and ha recruited some sensible "nationalists" like some former ambassadors and politicians and thus has revamped its list with potential ministers.
MHP hopes it may become a part of a coalition if things go well in the polls…

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