The trial balloon to lower election threshold.. AK Party , is everything alright?

Foreigners call it ‘trial balloon’. Although the method is used by companies and institutions in diverse fields, it is often put to use by politicians. If a substantial change in a particular matter is planned by policy makers, a proposal related to the envisaged change is put forward through the media and got it discussed in public in order to take the pulse of society. If reactions are considered favorable, the plan for change is put in practice.

The recent proposal by Faruk Çelik, a leading figure in AK Parti proposal is the latest example of practice of ‘trial balloon’ in our country. Çelik proposed that the ‘50+1 percent rule’, the presidential election threshold stipulated by the ‘Presidential Government System’ is to be cut to 40 percent in the next presidential election.

It isn’t difficult to see that his proposal has been put forward to be discussed as a practice of ‘trial balloon’.

Change of attitude on the same day

An unexpected development took place, though.

President Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday when asked by reporters about the plan for lowering the election threshold after his speech in the Turkish Parliament on the occasion of the new legislative year: