Provisions in Law No 2839 on Parliamentary Elections: “f) (Additional paragraph: 08/04/2010 – Law 5980/Art. 31.) The special emblems of political parties shall be printed on the joint ballots in accordance with their description in the party statute. The party statute shall be taken as a basis in determining the emblem, the name and abbreviation of the political party to be printed on the joint ballot. Political parties which do not have abbreviated names shall be represented on the joint ballot with their full names. No special emblem or sign shall be used on the joint ballots for independent candidates.” The fact that there is no opportunity to use identifying symbols for independent candidates on the ballots as well as the practice of writing the names of independent candidates with a smaller font in a smaller area of the ballot in comparison to political parties, amounts to unequal treatment. Election Threshold The 10% election threshold5, which has been in place since 1983, is the main subject of discussion in every election period. The official justification for the 10% threshold is ‘to ensure political stability’. Yet, this practice prevents different political ideas from being represented in parliament and poses a disadvantage to smaller political parties thereby impeding fair representation.6 General Electoral Threshold and its calculation: “Article 33 – (Amended first paragraph of Article 9 of Law 3377, 23 May 1987.) A political party which has not obtained at least 10% of the valid votes throughout Turkey or in all of the bye-election constituencies in case it is a bye-election, can not be represented in the Parliament. The election of an independent candidate who stands for elections on a political party candidate list, is possible if the political party in question obtains at least 10% of the total votes as well …“7 In every election period, public poll researchers reiterate that the 10% election threshold influences voters in their choices and that they refrain from voting for parties which they believe will not pass the threshold. Despite the fact that the threshold is defended by various circles to ensure political stability, the elections of 1991, 1995 and 1999 yielded results that only allowed for the creation of coalition governments. The public, as well as political parties, accept that the 10% election threshold is an antidemocratic practice. Yet, there is persistence in failing to introduce the legal amendments necessary to abolish it. Due to the high election threshold, the Felicity Party and the Great Union Party ran in the elections of June 7th by entering into an alliance. On the other hand, the Kurdish political movement, which has been taking part in the elections for many years with independent candidates, decided to take part in these elections as a political party. The question of whether the People’s Democratic Party will pass the threshold was the biggest topic of discussion during the election process. 5 In the elections of 1983, two thresholds were enforced, namely the countrywide election threshold of 10% and the constituency-based threshold. 6 According to a study conducted by TUSIAD (Turkish Industry and Business Association) in 2001 titled A Study on the Election System and Political Parties, 53% of the respondents are of the opinion that the election system serves to prevent small parties from entering parliament. 7 http://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/Metin.Aspx?MevzuatKod=1.5.2839&sourceXmlSearch=&MevzuatIliski=0 8