Turkish parliament to discuss poll

Cem (front) is applying pressure on his old boss Ecevit (rear)

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's parliament is set to meet on Monday in an attempt to ratify the date of the country's election.

Two opposition parties had demanded parliament be recalled amid the crisis last week when Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit saw his government's three-party coalition lose its absolute majority.

But observers fear the meeting will be brief and fail to agree on November 3 as the date because some politicians have said they will boycott the meeting.

The three governing parties object to Monday's date, wanting an extra week or more.

It seems unlikely that the session will achieve the required quorum of 184 deputies as a result.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Turkey's PM talks about "mini-crisis." (July 15) Play video   RESOURCES Profile: Bulent Ecevit  Profile: Kemal Dervis  Profile: Ismail Cem

A session is urgently needed to discuss human rights reforms necessary for Turkey to be considered for European Union membership, as well as the election date.

Ecevit appeared to have backtracked on an early election deal on Saturday when he said early polls would be "dangerous" risking the country's fragile economy and possibly heralding an Islamist or Kurdish nationalist party entry into parliament.

This could then spark tension with Turkey's powerful armed forces, he warned.

He said on Sunday: "I am not opposing an early election just for the sake of our party.

"There are various duties that have to be carried out constantly.

"I would like the government to stay in office longer to carry out those duties."

His coalition partners still insist on early elections though.

Mesut Yilmaz, leader of the centre-right Motherland Party, told Reuters on Saturday: "The elections must be held on November 3. Postponement would not bring good results."

Newspapers said on Sunday that former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem's pro-European party is likely to be officially announced under the name "New Turkey."

Cem was one of the 60 deputies who resigned during a tumultuous past couple of week.

Ecevit's Democratic Left party is expected to suffer huge losses if early elections are held.

The 77-year-old has been ill during the past two months and absent from mainstream politics.

He agreed with leaders of his coalition to hold early elections last Tuesday after his party slipped from being the largest parliamentary party to fourth biggest.

Financial markets reacted with relief to the mention of November 3 as an election date as they saw it as signalling stability.

Without his absolute majority and with several parties pushing for early elections Ecevit's party will have to gather support from other parliamentary groups to delay the vote.

A team of IMF inspectors are due to give an interim assessment of progress under the loan pact on Monday.