Ruling AKP's Mustafa Şentop reelected as parliament speaker in third round of voting
The ruling AKP's nominee Mustafa Şentop was reelected as parliament speaker on July 7. Şentop's re-election did not come as a surprise as the AKP and its ally MHP hold a parliamentary majority.
Duvar English / Anadolu Agency
Turkish parliament on July 7 reelected Mustafa Şentop as its speaker.
A ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker, Şentop gained 328 votes in the third round of voting in parliament with 600 seats.
AKP's ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) supported Şentop in the election.
The first two rounds of the voting yielded no clear result, as all candidates failed to secure the required two-thirds majority to win the seat. In the third round of voting, a minimum of 301 votes was needed.
The candidate of Turkish Workers' Party (TİP), Erkan Baş, withdrew his candidacy for the post at the beginning of the second round.
In the third round of the voting, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Haluk Koç got 134 votes, while the candidate of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Erol Katırcıoğlu bagged 51 votes.
İYİ (Good) Party's candidate İmam Huseyin Filiz collected 37 votes.
A total of 557 lawmakers cast ballots, while seven votes were declared invalid.
Speaking to lawmakers following the election, Sentop thanked them for participating in the process.
"The election is completed. No doubt that I will try to serve the grand parliament under the Constitution, the bylaw, other rules of law and parliamentary tendencies with justice and impartiality," he said.
In Turkey's parliament, the ruling AKP holds 291 seats, while CHP has 138 seats, HDP 58 seats, MHP 49, İYİ Party 37, Turkish Workers' Party two and independents six seats, whereas Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), Democrat Party (DP), Grand Unity Party (BBP), Saadet (Felicity) Party, and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) hold one each.