Ankara: Turkey’s government said it’s considering a request from a leading ally to bring forward landmark presidential and parliamentary elections to late August, triggering falls in the lira, stocks and bonds.

Devlet Bahceli said his nationalist MHP party would support any move to advance polls currently scheduled for November 2019, and he suggested doing so by more than a year to August 26. Asked whether the government was surprised by the MHP position, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the ruling AK Party would evaluate the call and make a statement.

“The AK Party has a tradition of holding elections on time, and we had stated that the vote will take place as scheduled. But authorised party organs should evaluate this and it will be debated,” Bozdag told reporters in parliament. An announcement will be made after discussions chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said. Erdogan said he would meet Bahceli on Wednesday.

Until now, the government has denied speculation that it wanted to move up the crucial votes, which are intended to abolish the job of prime minister and formally enshrine executive powers in the president’s office. In its almost 16 years in power, the AK Party has never called early elections.

Turkey’s lira weakened, while bonds and stocks erased earlier gains. The currency fell as much as 0.7 per cent to 4.1266 against the dollar. The yield on 10-year government notes jumped 6 basis points after falling as much as 14 basis points earlier.

The main opposition CHP accepted the challenge of an early election. “We’re always ready, said Bulent Tezcan, the party’s deputy chairman. “Turkey’s problems can only be solved by the nation’s will.”

Even before the formal shift in Turkey’s power centre, Erdogan has been running the country as its sole political authority, using extraordinary powers granted him following a failed coup attempt almost two years ago.

He has overseen a crackdown on political opponents and ordered the army into Syria to hit Kurdish militants there, winning the support of Turkish nationalists but damaging ties with the US and the European Union.

The August 26 date suggested by Bahceli marks the anniversary of a key military victory over Byzantine forces more than 900 years ago, and could be an attempt to capitalise on the rising nationalism that’s greeted the army’s offensives.

Under the new system, the president will prepare the budget, dissolve parliament and appoint high-level officials, including ministers and some top judges. He or she would also be able to declare a state of emergency restricting basic rights and freedoms, a power currently held by the government.

Narrow Win

In the April 2017 referendum that approved an empowered presidency, Erdogan won only narrowly, and most of his parliamentary landslides were secured with less than 50 per cent backing. For a first-round victory whenever the next presidential ballot is held, he’ll need a clear majority.

“Early elections have been mooted for some while but they’re only a realistic possibility if Erdogan is assured he can win, and win in the first round,” Nigel Rendell, a senior analyst at Medley Global Advisors in London, said by email. “This looks a high risk strategy for him at the moment.”

Investors have warned that the government’s stimulus to spur growth and unemployment in the run up to polls was overheating the economy at a time when the lira is being battered by fallout from the war in neighbouring Syria. Erdogan on Monday accused the Turkish financial industry of exploiting regional turmoil to weaken the currency, calling the efforts “treason.”

On Tuesday, Bahceli returned to the theme. “It is a must to spoil the game of those who are aiming to stir chaos,” he said. “Time has come to spell the end of speculations on whether there will be an early election or not.”