The Turkish parliament on Monday failed to elect the country's new president in the first round of presidential voting.

 

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who was renominated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as its candidate, received 341 votes, 26 votes short of the 367 majority required in the 550-seat parliament.

 

The candidate from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Sabahattin Caknakoglu, received 70 votes while the third candidate, Tayfun Icli from the Democratic Left Party (DSP), got only 13 votes.

 

A total of 448 parliamentary deputies participated in Monday's presidential vote, while the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) boycotted it.

 

The second round will be held on Aug. 24. If the president is still not elected, then a third round is set to be held on Aug. 28.

 

In case the candidates fail to collect enough votes in the third round, a fourth, which is the last one, will be held on Sept.1.

 

The first and second rounds require 367 (two-thirds of 550 MPs) votes to elect the new president, but in the third round, a simple majority of 276 votes will be sufficient.

 

In case none of the candidates receive 276 in the third round, the first two runners in the third round will compete in the fourth run set for Sept. 1, in which once again a simple majority of 276 votes will be required to elect the president.

 

If on one manages to garner the 276 votes needed in the last round of parliamentary voting, a general elections would be called. However, this scenario is viewed as largely unlikely, as the ruling AKP won a sweeping victory in the July 22 elections and thus holds a majority of seats in parliament for now.

 

In May, Gul withdrew from the presidential elections after the parliament's general assembly failed to reach a required quorum of 367 voters due to the opposition boycott, prompting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to call an early parliamentary elections.

 

Turkey's secular elite are strongly opposed to the nomination of Gul, a controversial figure with an Islamist background, and the main opposition Republican People's Party has called on the AKP to name a compromise candidate for the post.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2007)