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 Mesut Yılmaz Tansu Çiller Party Welfare ANAP DYP Leader since 11 October 1987 15 June 1991 13 June 1993 Leader's seat Konya Rize Istanbul Last election 62 seats, 16.87% 115 seats, 24.01% 178 seats, 27.03% Seats won 158 132 135 Seat change 96 17 43 Popular vote 6,012,450 5,527,288 5,396,009 Percentage 21.38% 19.65% 19.18% Swing 4.50% 4.36% 7.85%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Bülent Ecevit Deniz Baykal Alparslan Türkeş Party Democratic Left CHP MHP Leader since 15 January 1989 9 September 1992 8 February 1969 Leader's seat Istanbul Antalya Yozgat (lost seat)* Last election 7 seats, 10.74% 88 seats, 20.75% Did not contest Seats won 76 49 0 Seat change 69 39 ±0 Popular vote 4,118,025 3,011,076 2,301,343 Percentage 14.64% 10.71% 8.18% Swing 3.89% 10.04% 8.18%

* Alparslan Türkeş was elected in the 1991 general election as an Independent MP for Yozgat, with the backing of the Welfare Party (RP) and the Reformist Democracy Party (IDP)

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

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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

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.

Elections and referendums in Turkey Presidential elections 2014 General elections 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1946 1950 1954 1957 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2002 2007 2011 2015 (Jun) 2015 (Nov) next Local elections 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1955 1963 1968 1973 1977 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Senate elections 1961 1964 1966 1968 1973 1975 1977 1979 Referendums 1961 1982 1987 1988 2007 2010 By-elections 1986 2003 See also: Elections in the Ottoman Empire