Who will run Turkey after the presidential elections?

The ruling party is dedicated to make the presidential election in August, after which the country will have its first president elected by the public; more than an election for a new president.

It is almost certain that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will run for the presidential post, and on various occasions, senior Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials said Erdoğan’s election will be the first step toward a system change.

“We will elect Erdoğan to the presidential post in August, and come the 2015 general elections, the AK Parti will have enough parliamentary seats to change the Constitution and allow
Mr. Erdoğan to serve his nation until 2023,” Mehmet Ali Şahin, deputy leader of the AKP, said last weekend.

Erdoğan, and some members of the AKP, want to change the parliamentary system to a presidential one, arguing a president elected by popular vote and a prime minister who also has electoral support will be at odds, creating a crisis atop the state. The AKP offered the system change to a four-party joint panel that worked on a new charter until last year, but failed to convince other parties.

The prime minister said earlier that he would “use all constitutional powers” if elected president, sending the message that he will not be a “protocol president.”

In such situation, a Reuters report yesterday said Erdoğan would form a “council” in the presidential palace to oversee the government’s responsibilities.

“They will work with Erdoğan on important subjects in the presidential palace. You could call them wise men, an advisory council, a shadow cabinet,” the report quoted an unnamed senior AKP figure. The board...