Cablegate: Turkey's General Election Calendar

VZCZCXRO5277
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAK #1046 1240748
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040748Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1949
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1917
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 2632

UNCLAS ANKARA 001046

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S GENERAL ELECTION CALENDAR

1. On May 3, the Turkish parliament voted 458 to 0 for early
general elections to be held on July 22, 2007. Turkey's Supreme
Election Board (SEB) has prepared a draft schedule for parliamentary
elections, based on the July 22 date. The calendar will start to
run immediately, unless a party objects. Informal embassy
translation follows at para 2.

2. The key parliamentary election dates are:

-- May 4: The SEB will announce the parties that are eligible to
run in July 22 elections and determine the number of MPs for each
province.

-- May 8: Civil servants planning to run in the elections must
resign from government office. Ministers of Justice, Internal
Affairs and Communications must resign and the Prime Minister must
appoint technocrats from within or outside of parliament to those
positions.

-- May 12: Deadline for the Appeals Court Chief Prosecutor to send
to sub-provincial election boards the lists of party members who may
vote in primaries; deadline for political parties to submit their
voter registration records to sub-provincial election boards.

-- May 27: Changes in voter lists are finalized for each ballot
box.

-- June 8: Deadline for political party headquarters to submit to
the SEB their candidate lists for each constituency. Deadline for
provincial election boards to notify the SEB of independent
candidates who have applied.

-- June 14: Media organizations publish candidate lists.
Provincial Election Boards and the SEB begin to review lists.

-- June 15: Deadline for objections to the lists.

-- June 22: The SEB begins to print and distribute ballot papers.

-- July 7: Final candidate lists (including independents) are
publicized in provinces, the Official Gazette, and the media.

-- July 9: Voting begins at customs gates.

-- July 15: Parties begin to have campaign time on radio and TV
stations.

-- July 21: End of election campaign.

-- July 22: Election Day.

END TEXT.

WILSON

© Scoop Media