The onus is on Erdoğan to prove his critics wrong

There is no surprise in the announcement by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that its candidate for the Aug. 10 presidential elections is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The surprise would have been if he wasn’t.

All eyes will be on the AKP now to see how it manages the succession process after Erdoğan leaves his position as party leader. We do not know at this stage who will replace Erdoğan and whether that person will be able to maintain party unity.

Addressing party members and supporters after his nomination was announced on Tuesday, Erdoğan said “an elected president and an elected prime minister will make Turkey soar.” This not only presupposes that he will be elected in Aug. 10, but also that the AKP will come out a strong winner in the presidential elections planned for 2015, producing a prime minister that will work under Erdoğan’s directives.

Erdoğan intends to be a “de facto” executive president with support from the AKP in Parliament, until the Constitution can be amended to make him a “de jure” one. He needs the AKP to come out strong from the next parliamentary elections to do this.

Otherwise, Erdoğan will be stranded in the presidency with a prime minister who will not have the necessary majority in Parliament even if the AKP wins the elections. Such a prime minister will be unable to fulfill Erdoğan’s directives in the way he wants.

During his emotional address after his candidacy was announced, Erdoğan claimed he had not discriminated against those who did not vote for him in the past, and said he would be everyone’s president if elected in August. Given his actual record in this respect, this claim will have to be proved before it...