Can Davuto?lu put his own mark on the AKP?

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) will convene its regular convention on Sept. 12 nearly a year after Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu was elected as the chairman of the party to replace its charismatic leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. 

The convention is believed to be the beginning of the AKP?s election campaign, as Davuto?lu will try to mobilize the party organization as well as its grassroots for the objective of re-gaining the power they lost in the June polls. The drive on the AKP?s side is clear: To gain at least a simple majority in parliament so it can form a single-party government in the way they enjoyed after 2002. 

But this convention is not only important in regards to the upcoming snap election. This weekend?s convention will also give an opportunity for the party?s executives to revise party politics which caused a decline of around nine points in the AKP?s votes and therefore announce sound changes to this end. 

It was Davuto?lu and some other senior AKP officials who confessed the real reason of the decline in votes was the party drifting away from its founding principles, in indirect criticisms towards previous leadership that failed to handle a corruption scandal in the right manner. Davuto?lu tried to adopt a stricter line in the fight against corruption through imposing the Transparency Law which was later blocked by President Erdo?an, who openly challenged the prime minister earlier this year. 

The anti-corruption issue is only one of the points of disagreement between Erdo?an and Davuto?lu, as the former believes he should put his pressure on the AKP management so that he can still control the party. That?s why this convention is of crucial importance for Davuto?lu, who was willing to put own mark...