The Turkish parliament refused on Tuesday to schedule a vote for a censure motion against the government presented by the pro-Islamic Virtue Party, which blames it for the country's economic woes, reported AFP.
Deputies from the three parties represented in Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's coalition government voted against listing the measure on the parliament's agenda, said National Assembly vice-president Murat Sokmenoglu.
The Virtue Party, which holds 102 of 550 seats in the parliament to the coalition's combined 351 seats, filed its motion on March 1, accusing Ecevit's government of incompetence in running the country's economy.
Kutan was quoted as saying, "If you dare, let's hold elections and let the voters solve the problem."
Speaking at his party's group meeting at Parliament, Kutan mainly focused on the recent economic crisis, according to Turkish Daily News on Wednesday.
Kutan said 17 different programs had been prepared recently in an effort to escape the crisis and due to the failure of all, another program is underway.
State Minister Kemal Dervis has been "imported" from the World Bank as a solution, Kutan said.
Dervis, summoned from Washington to take charge of the economy after a financial crisis slashed the value of the lira, kept the markets guessing.
A new program that could set a year-end inflation target of around 50 percent was expected to emerge this week, said the paper.
A row between Ecevit and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer over anti-corruption measures threw Turkish markets into turmoil and forced the government to abandon its currency peg on February 22 and float the lira.
The peg was central the International Monetary Fund's reform program to revive the Turkish economy. Since then, the lira has lost about 30 percent of its value – Albawaba.com
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