Coalition dreaming

THE inauguration of Turkey’s new parliament on June 23rd was a heady day for this wobbly democracy. Pious Muslim women were able to take the oath with their heads covered for the first time without being harassed by secular dinosaurs. Three Armenians, two Yazidis, a Syriac, a Roma and numerous Kurds and Alevis (and a total of 96 women) made for the most colourful chamber in the republic’s 92-year history. And though an openly gay candidate for the People’s Democracy party (HDP) did not win, his party easily cleared the 10% threshold imposed in the 1980s to keep small parties out.

None of the day’s cheer will have rubbed off on Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, who brushed aside constitutional constraints to campaign for the incumbent Justice and Development (AK) party. He hoped AK would win enough seats to amend the constitution, either outright or via a referendum, to elevate the presidency from a quasi-ceremonial job into an executive one. In the event AK took only 258 seats, 18 short of a majority. Turkey faces coalition rule for the first time since 2002. Frenzied chat over potential partners has not let up since.