2000 Turkish presidential election

Indirect presidential elections were held in Turkey on 27 April 2000 followed by a second round vote on 1 May and a third on 5 May. It occurred at the end of 9th president Süleyman Demirel's seven-year term in office. There was a small effort to convert Turkey's presidential system into two terms of five years each, which would have given Demirel an additional three years, but this proposal never found widespread support.

2000 Turkish presidential election

← 1993
  • 27 April 2000 (first round)
  • 1 May 2000 (second round)
  • 5 May 2000 (third round)
2007 →

550 members of the Grand National Assembly
276 votes needed to win
Turnout96.91% Increase 5.35pp
 
Candidate Ahmet Necdet Sezer Nevzat Yalçıntaş Sadi Somuncuoğlu [tr]
Party Independent FP MHP
Electoral vote 330 113 43
Percentage 63.83% 21.86% 8.32%


President before election

Süleyman Demirel
DYP

Elected President

Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Independent

In the months leading to the vote, each of the five largest parliamentary parties informally endorsed their own candidates. However, with their no party with a defining majority, a neutral compromise candidate was sought and eventually found in the form of Ahmet Necdet Sezer, former president of the Turkey's Constitutional Court. Sezer was endorsed by the leaders of the governing Democratic Left, Nationalist Movement and Motherland parties, as well as the leaders of the opposition Virtue and True Path parties.

A number of MPs broke from party lines to nominate themselves. Among them was parliament speaker and former prime minister Yıldırım Akbulut, who was unable to win popular support and withdrew after the second round.

Electoral system

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The presidential vote is held in parliament by secret ballot. A candidate requires a two-thirds majority - or 367 votes - to be elected in the first two rounds. If there is no clear winner before the third round, the winning threshold is dropped to a simple majority, or 276 votes. If there is still no winner, the two candidates with the most votes from the third round progress to a runoff election, where the simply majority rule still applies. In the event of no clear winner among the two, the Turkish constitution states that a snap general election must be called to overcome the parliamentary deadlock.

Results

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Vecdi Gönül of the Virtue Party withdrew when a cross-party compromise candidate was found in Sezer; however, he Still received five votes in the first ballot. Gönul Saray Alphan and Turhan İmamoğlu of Democratic Left Party had stated they would run but both withdrew their candidacies before the first ballot.

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond roundThird round
Votes%Votes%Votes%
Ahmet Necdet SezerIndependent28154.0431459.5833063.83
Nevzat YalçıntaşVirtue Party6111.736612.5211321.86
Sadi Somuncuoğlu [tr]Nationalist Movement Party5811.15326.07438.32
Rasim Zaimoğlu [tr]True Path Party71.3530.57244.64
Mehmet Mail Büyükerman [tr]Democratic Left Party30.5820.3871.35
Yıldırım AkbulutMotherland Party5610.778816.70
Doğan GüreşTrue Path Party356.73224.17
Ahmet İyimaya [tr]True Path Party101.92
Agah Oktay GünerMotherland Party50.96
Oğuz Aygün [tr]Democratic Left Party40.77
Total520100.00527100.00517100.00
Valid votes52098.1152799.0651797.00
Invalid/blank votes101.8950.94163.00
Total votes530100.00532100.00533100.00
Registered voters/turnout55096.3655096.7355096.91
Source: Grand National Assembly[1][2][3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TBMM Tutanak Dergisi 27 Mart 2000" (PDF).
  2. ^ "TBMM Tutanak Dergisi 1 Mayıs 2000" (PDF).
  3. ^ "TBMM Tutanak Dergisi 5 Mayıs 2000" (PDF).