Home > 5.3 Validity of the question > TÜRKIYE - Opinion on the Amendments to the Constituion Adopted by the Grand National Assembly on 21 January 2017 and to be Submitted to a National Referendum on 16 April 2017
 
 
 
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Paragraph 50
 

The draft amendments foresee that the number of candidates may be rather low or, in fact, that at the second round there could be only one candidate. In this case, as amended Article 101 stipulates, the elections would be turned into a referendum, in which the simple majority of votes would suffice for the single candidate to be elected. Though not illegitimate or unlawful per se, this regulation, which already exists under the current constitution, is highly unusual. After all, elections are based on the idea of competition and choice and cannot really serve their purpose in the absence thereof.