Can the MHP be a 'strategy option?'

Over the next few weeks, there might be a radical reformatting of Turkish politics. On the one hand, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is pressing hard to achieve a miraculous wind in parliament and probably in the country to blow him to a higher, super president position by making a cosmetic or overall amendment in the constitution. 

The current picture of Turkish politics is appalling. Despite all its odds, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) still appears as the "sole hope" of the people, with no viable political alternative.

In the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), presumably the opposition but a de facto and effective political crutch of the AKP in most times of need, Devlet Bahçeli is waging a fight for survival. Bahçeli's survival, for obvious reasons, is of existential importance for Erdo?an and his super president aspirations and, of course, the AKP. Yet, without some real change, the MHP appears destined to be left out of parliament in a new election as most political analysts agree that the party would most probably require a miracle not to stay below the ten percent national electoral threshold. 

Challenges to Bahçeli's leadership might offer a way out for the MHP, but such a development would have devastating effects on the aspirations of Erdo?an. Bahçeli has always been at the beck and call of the president every time he needed a crutch. Could those challenging Bahçeli offer the same political help? On the contrary, if the MHP achieves a leadership change in a manner that might carry the party to center right and becomes a source of attraction, a viable alternative to AKP rule, it might not be a surprise to see some of those heavy cannons of the AKP lend support and help the MHP elevate itself to a position capable of...