Turkey's parliament is about to begin voting for a new president, but the election could be overshadowed by an opposition boycott and procedural row.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) says it will not vote because it was not consulted on the ruling party's choice, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

Secular opposition parties want to stop the ruling Islamist-rooted AK party from winning the presidency.

AK holds more than 350 of 550 seats, just short of the required majority.

The CHP has threatened to challenge the election in court if fewer than two-thirds of MPs vote.

Lengthy process

Yet despite the threat, AK party leaders remain confident of securing a first-round victory for Mr Gul.

"In my view, everything is very clear," the speaker of parliament, Bulent Arinc, an AK MP, told reporters.

"This parliament will elect the 11th president of Turkey comfortably."

Legal experts say the opposition argument for annulling the election result in the constitutional court is without merit.

AK party officials have been trying to win support the centre-right Motherland and True Path parties, who together control 24 seats, in an effort to reach the two-thirds threshold.

If they fail, Mr Gul may not be formally confirmed in his new post until after a third round of voting on 9 May, when only a simple majority in the 550-seat chamber would be required.

Secular traditions

The modern Turkish state was established on strict secular principles and traditionally, the country's presidents have been secularists.

If Mr Gul is elected he will be the first incumbent to have Islamist roots, and the first president whose wife wears an Islamic style headscarf.

Secularists fear that a president from the AK party, also known as the Justice and Development party, could undermine Turkey's secular order.

Mr Gul was named the Islamist party's candidate on Tuesday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The decision came after thousands had taken to the streets to urge Mr Erdogan not to stand.

After his nomination, Mr Gul pledged to adhere to the republic's secular principles if he was elected.

Officially, the Turkish president's duties are largely ceremonial and the post is regarded as less powerful than that of the prime minister.

But the presidency, first held by the revered founding father of the modern Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in the 1920s, holds tremendous symbolic importance for Turks.

The president has limited constitutional powers including the ability to veto legislation, used on a few occasions by current incumbent Ahmed Necdet Sezer, a staunch secularist, in response to AK-driven bills.

Photo caption

Abdullah Gul