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In Turkish parliamentary elections, a threshold of 10% applies for any party to enter parliament. At the 2018 general election, İyi Parti-Demokrat Parti reportedly reached 9.96%, yet also reportedly enters parliament with 43 seats. Did İyi Parti-Demokrat Parti enter Turkish parliament despite having less than 10% of the vote? How is it possible if the 10% threshold (still) applies?

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In 2017, the Turkish Parliament passed a law allowing alliances to be formed to jointly pass that 10% threshold. The IYI party is part of the National Alliance with the CHP and the Saadet Party. The alliance as a whole easily passed the 10% threshold. This does not mean that the parties are merged or have to vote together--in fact they have said that now that elections are over the alliance is dissolved. This is distinct from a strategy Kurdish parties have used in the past: running independent candidates who don't need to reach 10%.

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    What a strange law.
    – Bobson
    Commented Jul 5, 2018 at 15:14
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    The AKP passed it because they were worried that their allies, the MHP, would not exceed the 10% threshold. The two parties entered into an alliance together following the passage.
    – Eremi
    Commented Jul 5, 2018 at 15:23
  • That makes sense. I was thinking that it had the feel of a very targeted "bend the rules for political gain" change, and I guess it was.
    – Bobson
    Commented Jul 5, 2018 at 15:37
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    BTW, great irony that AKP passed a law because they were worried that their partners wouldn't pass the 10% threshold, and now it has actually benefited the opposition Millet İttifakı more than it has the government Cumhur İttifakı! (And AKP now depends on MHP for parliamentary majority)
    – gerrit
    Commented Jul 5, 2018 at 15:46
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    @gerrit I can't confirm for sure, but I believe that Saadet Partisi won no seats because they didn't have strong enough performances in any district to merit a seat. As part of the alliance, they put their candidates lower on the list in some districts. I don't believe they were unable to win any seats, I think they just happened to win none.
    – Eremi
    Commented Jul 5, 2018 at 16:12

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