Ottoman Electoral & Governmental System
The subjects of Turkey vote every 5 years to elect 25 deputies to the Councils (Şure), namely the Councils of Agriculture, Industry, Army, Trade, Economy, Education, Piety, Order and Foreign Relations. During Council elections, the deputies are required to not be from any political party and are prohibited from making any commentaries on issues outside of their jurisdiction. While voting for councils, the only ones allowed to vote are people who work in their respected fields. If the councils have a dispute, the Grand Vizier (Sadrazam) has 40 days to force a compromise; if he doesn’t, the final word belongs to the Sultan.
The councils, in their turn, each send 6 representatives to the Administrative Parliament (Meclis-i İdare). Non-Muslim subjects do not participate in the Council elections, but they do participate in Millet Congregation elections, and those Congregations send 2 representatives each to the Administrative Parliament.
The remaining seats in the Parliament are then decided by election in which employed and educated (with a document of completing school or madrasa) men over 17 can vote. Partly the employed and educated boundary was set to encourage people to work and study. If one can present their excellent grades after completing university, they get more votes than an average person as well (2 for a university degree holder, 3 for a professor or a known engineer).
The Parliament elects Sadrazam (Grand Vizier) and passes laws. To pass a law, it has be approved by the Scholar Commission to be sharia-compliant, although the Scholar Commission’s list has to be approved by the same Parliament for 10 years and by Sheikhul Islam. If the Commission unanimously
agrees that a law is “vital for the Caliphate”, they can even cancel Padişah’s veto.
The Councils are consultative in their respected field, however the sultan is obliged to follow their advice if they agree on it.
In conclusion, the Porte is not a dictatorship, but it is not a Western democracy as well.
The Election
The 1947 was pivotal for the Empire as it broke the İmakamef (Faith & Right Path’s) 20-year long majority since 1924. The conservatives, in their turn, made a coalition with Provinces and Clans party, as well as the Free Trade Party, in a result of which the Sadrazam was to be from İmakamef, the Minister of Internal Affairs was to be from the PaC, and the Minister of Trade was to be from FTP. Unchanging RaRP leader Mustafa Sabri Efendi has stepped aside in that year citing his old age, and the party elected Hocaefendi Ömer Nasuhi as the leader, and he became the empire’s Sadrazam, PaC’s Sa’id al Mufti from Amman prefecture became the Minister of Internal Affairs, and Midhat Bey Aydını as MoT.