Turkey’s DTP proposes to reduce election threshold

The proposal would allow parties that gain at least 1 percent of votes in the general elections to receive funds from the Treasury. Under the current legislation, only parties that cross the country’s 10 percent election threshold receive financial support.

DTP Diyabakir MP Gultan Kisnak presented the proposal that would give more parties access to financial assistance and allow them to promote party politics in languages other than Turkish.

In 2003, members of DTP’s predecessor, the Democratic People's Party (DEHAP), had filed a case with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) claiming that the 10 percent electoral threshold in Turkey was a violation of human rights.

The ECHR last week decided that Turkey’s 10 percent electoral threshold was not a violation of human rights. Thirteen judges of the Grand Chamber voted for the decision, while four voted against.

The Turkish electoral legislation requires a party to cross a threshold of 10 percent of the votes validly cast nationally in order to obtain seats in the National Assembly.

Many observers criticize the current legislation saying the 10 percent threshold is too high and harms democracy as it is not representative of the diversity of the electorate. Mostly pro-Kurdish parties had suffered from the 10 percent threshold, as they never pass it despite a strong support from southeastern regions.

In last year's elections pro-Kurdish DTP found a formula to by-pass the threshold condition by running its candidates as independent. Around 20 deputies from DTP entered the parliament as independent candidates and then re-joined the party.

Independent candidates can enter parliament by gaining enough votes in proportion to the electorate in which they are running.