After winning a dubious victory at the constitutional referendum, which was overshadowed by widespread irregularities, ruling Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish acronym AKP preparing to give the steering wheel of the party back to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Sunday's polls on constitutional changes, which give extended power to the president, resulted with a disputed 'Yes' vote with 51.4 percent against 'No' at 48.6 percent. Two opposition parties have announced they will challenge the results since a significant number of unsealed ballots were accepted valid by the High Election Board.
As the debate on the irregularities continues, AKP officials are preparing to execute one of the key articles in the new constitution, which removes the ban on the party affiliation of the president.
Erdoğan had to resign from the leadership of the AKP after being elected president in 2014, although he still has the final say in the decision-making process of the party.
Mustafa Elitaş, Deputy Chair of AKP, said on Monday that the party will offer membership to Erdoğan. Speaking on NTV news channel, Elitaş said the offer will be made after 27th or 28th of April.
In his victory speech on Sunday, Erdoğan said the new system will go into effect after the next general elections and presidential elections, which are set to be held simultaneously in November 2019. the
However, in addition to the article on the party affiliation of the president, two other key articles of the amended constitution will be implemented immediately, AKP officials revealed on Monday.
Local media cited AKP officials who said the article regulating the organisation of the Board of Judges and Prosecutors will go into effect in 30 days. In the new system, the number of the members of the board will be changed from 23 to 13, and 4 of the members will be appointed by the president.
The article which removes two military members from the Constitutional Court will also go into effect in the coming weeks.
Erdoğan has still 2 years to go in his current presidential term, and the constitutional change allows him to enjoy his extended powers after he is re-elected in 2019.
However, AKP officials hinted at a possibility of early elections. Hürriyet newspaper on Monday cited officials, who said the constitutional change allows the parliament to vote on early elections, after which Erdoğan if re-elected, will be able to exercise his new powers.
