Members of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will on Sunday elect current Transport Minister as the new leader of the party and de facto country’s Prime Minister in replacement of Ahmet Davutoglu who recently announced he was stepping down.
Binali Yildirim, country’s Transport Minister has been chosen as sole candidate for the party’s new leader position.
Co-founder of the AKP with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yildirim is known as a longstanding ally of Erdogan who reports say that engineered Davutoglu’s resignation.
Confirmation of Yildirim on Sunday will roll out a large avenue for Erdogan to complete his political agenda of turning country’s executive system into a presidential power contrary to the current parliamentarian one.
Davutoglu relations with Erdogan has been strained by Erdogan’s political plans which the former Prime Minister and chief of the party has been opposed to.
Yildirm, 60, is not unknown to the Turkish public. He is reckoned for his work. The ruling party, reports say, owes its public image to the transport ministry through transport infrastructure projects.
Though not having the charism of his political master Erdogan, Yildrim is believed as a balance figure for the position. Analysts argue that a strong Prime Minister will likely overshadow Erdogan’s influence on the party – something Erdogan himself is pretty against.
Figures within the party believe election of Yildirim at the head of the party will boost the party’s standing in the public view, Middle East Eye (MEE) reports.
“The new prime minister will further strengthen Turkey and the party. I expect popular support and the vote share of the party to increase even more in the wake of these developments,” Bulent Gedikli, Erdogan’s Chief Advisor told MEE.
“The new prime minister will further strengthen Turkey and the party. I expect popular support and the vote share of the party to increase even more in the wake of these developments,” said Gedikli.
Yildirim formerly severed as the director general of the Istanbul Ferries Company (IDO) from 1994 to 2000.
He was elected member of the parliament in 2002, and appointed as transport minister after founding the AKP with Erdogan 2001.
He quitted his position in 2014 as he was seeking mayorship in Izmir. He then lost the race against the main opposition candidate.
He worked under Erdogan from 2015 as his advisor before entering parliament last year after the general elections won by the party. He returned to his former ministry position.
Turkey: Core Erdogan ally, Transport Minister Tipped in the Seat of Prime Minister
