Roundup: Turkey's new interim gov't formed amid partisanship criticisms

Turkey's interim government formed by caretaker Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu brought independents, nationalists and Kurdish politicians to the cabinet amid mounting criticism of partisanship from the opposition.

Davutoglu announced the new interim cabinet on Friday after the collapse of the coalition talks that led to the call by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for snap election on Nov. 1.

He kept roughly half of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ministers in the new cabinet while bringing two nationalists and two pro-Kurdish politicians to the cabinet.

The rest was appointed from independents that are former politicians or bureaucrats.

"This cabinet has no function other than serving to the president," Mustafa Balbay, the lawmaker from the opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP), said.

President Erdogan, who still wields serious clout within the AKP, has come under fire for being partisan since he became a president a year ago. He is said to favor a snap election with a hope that the AKP will regain its lost strength and preside a single-party government after early election.

Turkish analysts also see the footprints of Erdogan on the formation of the new cabinet.

Omer Sahin, long-time observer of Turkish politics in Ankara, said the interim government was clearly shaped by Erdogan who rewarded his loyalist bureaucrats by making them ministers.

"The ministers who are close to Erdogan kept their jobs in the interim government as well," Sahin added.

"The AKP is playing to the nationalist voters for the upcoming elections," he said, noting that the recruitment of two nationalist figures would suggest that conclusion.

However, Davutoglu defended the cabinet against criticism by saying that he did his best to form the best representative government under the circumstances according to the constitution.

Recalling that Turkey faces security, social and economic challenges, Davutoglu vowed that "this cabinet will govern."

Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan, who kept his post in the cabinet, said that "we will be working like a four-year term government rather than an interim government."

Akdogan emphasized that the interim government will take the nation to snap polls without leaving any power vacuum in Turkey's governance.

Nevertheless, the new interim government already faced legitimacy questions when the two major opposition parties, CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) -- the second and third largest political parties respectively by popular support -- decided to boycott the participation.

Turkish Constitution required that all parties represented in parliament should send deputies to the interim government in commensurate to the number of seats they hold in parliament.

Following the boycott, Davutoglu had to fill empty slots in the cabinet from independents. He was able to convince a nationalist deputy from the MHP to defect against the wishes of party leadership and join the government.

Tugrul Turkes, deputy chairman of the MHP, became deputy prime minister, although he is now facing an expulsion from his party.

Former chairman of the Grand Unity Party (BBP), a small nationalist party, was also appointed to the post of culture and tourism minister.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) agreed to join in the government, but one deputy that was offered a cabinet position declined.

Ali Ozgunduz, former lawmaker, claimed Davutoglu violated the constitution because some of the independents in the cabinet are in fact former deputies from Davutoglu's political party.

"Both energy and agriculture ministers are former AKP deputies and still members in the AKP. They cannot be considered to be independents," he explained.

Many analysts are worried about the stability of Turkey, arguing that Turkey has a profound political crisis, the economy also in trouble, with escalating violence between the state and the PKK.

The AKP hopes to ride on the rising nationalist sentiment to win back its strength amid surge in the violence and terror incidents. Yet various opinion polls suggest that is not very likely.

Turkey faces significant economic difficulties with stock market plummeting and local currency losing its value fast. Exports have declined, the growth slowed, unemployment soared and consumer confidence index dropped. Enditem