Ruling alone without the need for coalitions has always been a major election mantra of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which maintains that coalitions present risks to political stability and snag expeditious decision-making. The party has managed to rule the country alone since it came to power in 2002. In the June 24 polls, which marked Turkey’s transition to an executive presidency, the AKP’s founding leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, won re-election with 52.6% of the vote, assuming sweeping powers under the new governance system.

Yet the AKP failed to secure an absolute majority in the 600-seat parliament, meaning it will have to acquiesce to a sort of a “covert coalition” to pass laws. In the November 2015 elections, the party mustered 49.5% of the vote and secured 317 seats in parliament, which at the time had 550 seats. On June 24, the AKP won 42.5% of the vote and 295 parliamentary seats, falling just short of the 301 seats needed for a majority.

The outcome positions the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) as a natural coalition partner of the AKP. The MHP, which contested the elections in an alliance with the AKP and backed Erdogan’s re-election bid, got 11.1% of the vote and 49 parliamentary seats.

During the campaign, however, the two parties showed they are not in perfect unison, including on major issues such as the state of emergency, in place since the botched coup attempt in July 2016. MHP leader Devlet Bahceli maintained that the emergency rule should continue, though Erdogan signaled it will not be extended beyond July 19, when the latest six-month extension expires. Also, Bahceli persistently called for a wide amnesty for many prisoners only to receive firm rejections from government ranks.