Gul says KKTC early elections not good idea

"Certainly, we would not like to intervene in their domestic affairs. But it is not proper to change horses at such a critical time when there is a greater need for stability," Gul was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.

His remarks followed statements by KKTC Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat signalling that early elections could be inevitable after his coalition government lost their majority in Parliament.

A deputy from Talat’s Republican Turkish Party (CTP) resigned this week, bringing the number of seats held by Talat’s coalition government to 23 in the 50-member Parliament.

Talat’s party was a staunch supporter of the U.N. plan for reunification of the island. Turkish Cypriots cast a 65 percent vote in support of the plan but due to Greek Cypriot rejection, the plan failed.

Turkey and the KKTC government have been pushing the European Union, United States and the Muslim countries in helping lift the economic and political isolation of Turkish Cypriots after their vote in support of the U.N. plan. The EU has agreed to change its rules regulating crossings through the Green Line dividing the Turkish and Greek sides of the island to allow passage of goods produced in Turkish Cyprus.

The United States is also willing to lift economic sanctions and is working on a set of measures to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots. Turkey is also trying to get the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to upgrade the diplomatic status of Turkish Cypriots.

"There are so many things to do. We have been going from one country to another and Mr. Talat has been doing a lot of work too. I want to say that his work has been very useful, therefore, this energy should not be wasted on other projects right now," Gul said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to present to the Security Council a critical report next week on the failure of his plan. The Security Council will then issue a resolution on the basis of the report.

But Talat’s coalition government with Serdar Denktas’ Democratic Party (DP) has come under increasing pressure from the opposition parties to resign. In a statement this week, opposition National Unity Party (UBP) Chairman Dervis Eroglu, an opponent of reunification plan, said the government should resign to allow formation of an alternative government.

Eroglu said the government lost its majority position in Parliament and added that it was harming democracy by not resigning. He also said his party would formally ask the government to resign as soon as it got support from 26 of its deputies.

Talat: Election not favorite choice but…
Responding to Gul’s remarks, Talat said early elections might be inevitable under the circumstances, although this would not be the choice of his government. "We do not want to change the horse, we just want it to be stronger," he told reporters in Nicosia. "There is nothing else to do if we end up with no choice," he added.