Strong government needs strong parliament: Erdogan   

ANKARA: A strong government needs a strong parliament, Turkey’s president said Monday, noting that the alliance between his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will contribute to the solidarity in the Turkish parliament.

"If we are talking about a strong government, then you are going to create a strong government with a powerful parliament, so the number is very important in this respect.

If you want a stronger president, we need a stronger parliament," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told local news channel Haberturk. "First of all, it [the number of AK Party lawmakers in parliament] must be over 300," Erdogan said, adding that the People's Alliance with MHP would increase the solidarity in parliament.

Erdogan also said there might be one or two vice presidents in the new presidential system after the elections on June 24. Eight political parties are contesting the early elections on June 24, including the ruling Justice and Development Party, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Free Cause (Huda-Par) Party, newly-formed Good (IYI) Party, Felicity (Saadet) Party and Patriotic (Vatan) Party.

For the first time in Turkish political history, political parties will go to the polls after forming alliances. Also, mobile ballot boxes, a required 100,000 signatures to be a presidential candidate and presidential and parliamentary elections being held on the same day are some of the firsts in this election process.

Turkey’s ruling AK Party and the MHP will enter the race as the People's Alliance while the CHP, IYI Party, SP and Democrat Party (DP) will participate as the Nation Alliance.

Last April, parliament passed a bill for early elections on June 24, cementing Turkey’s move to a presidential system. In the April 2017 referendum, Turkish voters approved the switch from a parliamentary system to a presidential one.

Erdogan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014. Should he win the June 24 election, Erdogan would be Turkey's first leader under the presidential system, doing away with the prime minister's post, among other changes.