New Prime Minister Criteria from Erdoğan

We had departed from Ankara with the Prime Minister.

First stop is Hatay.

The weather is hot, but the love for Erdogan in the hearts of the settlers of Hatay is even warmer.

The Prime Minister was addressing a crowded community.

We board helicopters and depart for Iskenderun.

After 15 minutes, we reach Iskenderun. This time we are having iftar (the evening meal of Ramadan) with tens of thousands of people.

I''m observing the Prime Minister. He must be hungry; he is digging his spoon into the lunch box.

I''m checking the table, to check whether a different iftar dish has been prepared for the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is eating the same lunch box with the citizens.

As if it''s a rally square rather than an iftar table.

After Erdogan addresses tens of thousands of people, he pays a visit to the Iskenderun city hall. But, the streets are full and at nighttime people stroll in the streets with Erdogan''s convoy.

We take the helicopter from Iskenderun to Adana.

Moreover, we are on the same plane with the Prime Minister on the way back to Ankara.

Time is limited and there are lots of questions.

Nobody is asking who would be the President. It''s already accepted that Erdogan will be elected as President in the first round.

Who will be the next Prime Minister, can clues be taken from Erdogan about himself?

We are asking him whether he has any worries about the struggle with the parallel structure following his departure.

He says, ''If we didn''t carry out this struggle together, our friends in execution will pay the price heavily''.

We are diving straight in. ''Will one of the criteria, of being the next Prime Minister after you, be the struggle against the parallel structure?'' The Prime Minister first looks up, then he smiles, saying, ''I know you are journalists, but I am a politician.'' Then he smiles again, showing how cheerful he is.

''If I say such a thing, then it means that I''m also thinking about these things, too.''

Transverse questions come one after another. As if we have a canvas in front of us. With the information we might get off Erdogan, we are trying to paint the portrait of the Prime Minister.

The ''In your opinion, should the Chairman and Prime Minister be the same name?'' question is asked.

It was quite an important question.

It was like one of the road maps that hints at who will be the next prime minister after Erdogan.

In our ''On the way to Çankaya'' article, dated June 28, we had narrated to you that the Prime Minister had said, ''They say that someone will lead the party till the elections, and then someone else will be assigned. As if someone will be a prime minister for 8 months. There is no such thing. The prime minister and chairman will be the same person'' during the MYK meeting of AK Party, in which the Prime Minister''s formulas were on top of the agenda.

As for the ''How will the prime minister be elected '' article, dated July 3rd, we had published some criteria under the light of impressions we acquired from the meeting, in which the Prime Minister''s Presidential Candidacy was declared.

We had said that ''He had shut the doors on the transition period formulas, where the chairman and prime minister are different''.

The Prime Minister had described it clearly. He had shut the doors on formulas in the form of a different chairman and prime minister.

Here are his words:

''In other words, in order to have a strong prime minister, he should have a strong chairman as well. Also, in order for the chairman to be strong, he should have the prime minister title. Meaning that if the chairman and prime minister are two separate names then it will be impossible to carry out an efficient operation''

The Prime Minister didn''t stop with these words. He was banned from entering the elections on November 2, 2002. AK Party had won the rulership, but since Erdogan wasn''t a congressman, the question of who will be the prime minister was on top of the agenda. The Chairman Erdogan / Prime Minister Gül model had continued till post Siirt elections.

He had explained those times with ''For example I had experienced this for 3-4 months''. Obviously, he wanted to give a message and consolidate his words. Then he brought the conversation to the same point.

He said ''Now, it is required to carry it out as such in this transition period. This is our opinion''.

We had caught hints of who will be the next Prime Minister after Erdogan, towards the end of the conversation.

''You had set forth the criteria of perspiring and running for the presidency. Will the same standards be valid for the prime minister?''

The Prime Minister had started laughing again. This time he laughed a lot.

He said, ''We will be walking these roads together. He will run, I will run.''

In this way, he had presented the ''perspiring, running prime minister'' profile after the perspiring and running presidential criteria.

These are two clues that reflect the kind of prime minister and AK Party chairman that the present Prime Minister has in mind. Of course, other elements and evaluations will be in question.

Before Özal stepped up to Çankaya, he had gathered eight Turkish seniors and told them to come to terms between themselves, but given the job to Yildirim Akbulut.

Demirel had desired Brother Ismet for the position, but eventually had lost the party to Çiller.

As for Erdogan, he had set forth criteria and thus presented a picture. We wanted people, who will make evaluations and have expectations on this matter, to look at this picture.