THE denial of a two-thirds majority for the ruling AKP should serve Turkey well, for this would force Recep Tayyip Erdogan to accommodate the opposition's views if he wants to amend the constitution. Even though he has given his people more than a decade of good governance and economic progress, the results of Sunday's vote should make Mr Erdogan feel a wee bit hamstrung. As expected, the AKP secured 50.3 per cent of the votes, scoring a third consecutive victory. But the party's 325-seat landslide is short of the five more it needed in a house of 550 to get what was called a 'supermajority' to amend the basic law on its own. Mercifully, Mr Erdogan has indicated that he would try to build consensus by talking to the media, NGOs and opposition parties outside parliament, because his aim was to write “a civilian … constitution” — a clear indication that Mr Erdogan wishes to remove whatever hurdles still exist in the way of a basic law that has no role for the army.

The AKP's win should surprise no one. Under Mr Erdogan's charismatic leadership, the Turks have gained in many ways. The economy continues to grow, the per capita GDP has gone up and unemployment is down. At the same time, his Islamist leanings have not prevented him from pursuing Turkey's European orientation and making it a full member of the European Union. That he will play a more assertive role in foreign affairs became obvious in his victory speech when he said Sarajevo, Ramallah and Beirut had won as much as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Yet, the AKP leader must take note of what for him are disturbing developments. The secular Republican People's Party has improved its electoral performance, gaining 23 more seats to take its tally to 135, while the grumbling (Kurdish) Peace and Democratic Party has won an impressive 35 seats. This means he must do more for Turkey's backward south-east if he wants to fight separatist tendencies by non-military means, and he must convince the opposition that a French-style presidential system is in Turkey's interest.