Turkish general election, 1995

Turkish general election, 1995

December 24, 1995

Total of 550 seats of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey 276 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Necmettin Erbakan Tansu Çiller Mesut Yılmaz Party Welfare DYP ANAP Leader since 11 October 1987 13 June 1993 15 June 1991 Leader's seat Konya Istanbul Rize Last election 62 seats, 16.87% 178 seats, 27.03% 115 seats, 24.01% Seats won 158 135 132 Seat change 96 43 17 Popular vote 6,012,450 5,396,009 5,527,288 Percentage 21.38% 19.18% 19.65% Swing 4.50% 7.85% 4.36%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Bülent Ecevit Deniz Baykal Party Democratic Left CHP Leader since 15 January 1989 9 September 1992 Leader's seat Istanbul Antalya Last election 7 seats, 10.74% 88 seats, 20.75% Seats won 76 49 Seat change 69 39 Popular vote 4,118,025 3,011,076 Percentage 14.64% 10.71% Swing 3.89% 10.04%

Winners according to provinces:      RP        DYP        ANAP        DSP        CHP        HADEP

Prime Minister before election Tansu Çiller DYP Elected Prime Minister Tansu Çiller DYP

Turkey's 13th general election was held on Sunday December 24, 1995, triggered by the newly reformed Republican People's Party's (CHP) withdrawal from a coalition with the True Path Party (DYP). The coalition had been in government for four years, having been formed by the Social Democratic Populist Party, the CHP's predecessor.

The vote was the first to elect 550 deputies to parliament, its largest size yet. The religious Welfare Party (RP) achieved an unprecedented victory, but not an overall majority. The Democratic Left Party (DSP) also made significant gains at the expense of the CHP, which barely crossed the election barrier. The election was also the first time an openly Kurdish party – the People's Democracy Party – contested. It was the leading party in several provinces, but received no MPs due to missing the 10% electoral threshold.

Results

Total votes and seats for each party

Parties		Votes			Seats
		No.	%	+− %	No.	+−
	Welfare Party (Refah Partisi - RP)	6,012,450	21.38	+4.50	158	+96
	Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi - ANAP)	5,527,288	19.65	-4.36	132	+17
	True Path Party (Doğru Yol Partisi - DYP)	5,396,009	19.18	-7.85	135	-43
	Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti - DSP)	4,118,025	14.64	+3.89	76	+69
	Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi - CHP)	3,011,076	10.71	-10.04	49	-39
	Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - MHP)	2,301,343	8.18		0
	People's Democracy Party (Halkın Demokrasi Partisi - HADEP)	1,171,623	4.17		0
	Independents	133,895	0.48	+0.35	0
	New Democracy Movement (Yeni Demokrasi Hareketi - YDP)	133.889	0.48		0
	Nation Party (Millet Partisi - MP)	127.630	0.45		0
	Rebirth Party (Yeniden Doğuş Partisi - YDP)	95.484	0.34		0
	Workers' Party (İşçi Partisi - İP)	61.428	0.22		0
	New Party (Yeni Parti - YP)	36.853	0.13		0
No. of valid votes		28,126,993	100,00		550	0
Invalid votes		974,476
Total votes		29,101,469
Electorate size		34,155,981
Voter turnout		85.5%
*Sources: BBC Turkish Service and Turkish Parliament archives

Effects

Coalition of Ordered government

Not since before the declaration of the republic had a blatantly religious party emerged as the largest political force in Turkey. There were fears of the secular armed forces refusing to accept the election result, perhaps even launching yet another coup. As a national debate waged, Tansu Çiller's government stayed on, eventually agreeing with Mesut Yılmaz's Motherland Party (ANAP) to form a minority coalition in March 1996, some three months after the election.

The ANAP-DYP coalition was toppled in an RP censure motion in June, forcing President Süleyman Demirel to choose between calling a fresh election or asking RP leader Necmettin Erbakan to form a government. He chose the latter, and the DYP switched allegiances to form Turkey's first Islamist government with the RP in June 1996.

CHP decline

The newly reformed CHP had withdrawn as junior partner of a four-year coalition with the DYP to contest an election on an agenda that boasted its Kemalist and centre-left history. The gamble turned out to be a disaster; far from returning to government, the CHP became the smallest party in parliament with a loss of nationalist votes to the MHP and left-wing votes to the DSP. The party's unpopularity led to its complete ejection from parliament in the next election.