Binali Yıldırım, a co-founder of the AKP and a close ally of President Tayyip Erdogan for over two decades, is expected to facilitate the President’s plans to extent his powers.
The AKP will hold a congress on Sunday to elect a new leader after Ahmet Davutoglu announced earlier this month he was stepping down as head of the party and therefore as prime minister following an increasingly public rift with Erdogan.
“His candidacy for leadership has emerged as a result of a consultation period and through a large consensus” a spokesperson told a news conference in Ankara.
Yildirim will likely back Erdogan’s aim of changing the constitution to create a presidential system. Critics fear this will bring more authoritarianism, when already concerns are raised in a number of issues, such as the imprisonment of journalists and academics.
According to Reuters, a new cabinet could be announced as early as Monday.