MEMBERS of Turkey's unlikely coalition and its opposition are offering huge bribes to undecided politicians in a desperate bid to influence Monday's confidence vote, the Turkish press reported.
Mr Necmettin Erbakan, leader of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party, became the new Turkish Prime Minister last week after forming a partnership with the former incumbent, Ms Tansu Ciller, a conservative.
But the alliance, which sparked outrage among some of Ms Ciller's True Path deputies, will fail unless it obtains a vote of confidence from parliament.
Turkish newspapers reported that the coalition and its opponents were offering bribes ranging from $1 million to $35 million. One of the smallest parties in parliament, the Islamic nationalist Grand Union (BBP), has been promised a role in the coalition in exchange for its support.
The Grand Union was born in 1992 of a split in the extreme right Nationalist Action Party. Its leader, Mr Muhsin Yazicioglu, objects to the alliance because it apparently cancels out corruption charges against Ms Ciller.
The Welfare Party launched a parliamentary inquiry last month against Ms Ciller, accusing her of "irregularities and corruption" when she was prime minister between June 1993 and March 1996.
Since Ms Ciller began negotiating with Mr Erbakan on June 13th, eight True Path deputies have resigned.
Modern Turkey, founded on, secular, pro-western policies in 1923, has its first Islamic leader with the resignations, the True Path party has fallen from second to third place in parliament.
To win the confidence vote, the government needs an absolute majority among MPs present on Monday. The Yeni Yazyil and Sabah newspapers predict that the coalition will scrape through.
Ms Ciller yesterday deflected criticism from women's groups for joining a coalition that gave Islamists their greatest share of power in the country's modern history.
"I am in this struggle, against all kinds of interest groups, for my young people and my women," the Deputy Prime Minister told a women's delegation from her party. "I am your defender and guarantee. I am also the guarantee "of the secular republic," she said.
Women's groups and her former (female supporters regard the Islamists as being against women's rights. Mr Erbakan's Islam based Welfare Party has no women among its 158 MPs. Ms Ciller is one of three DYP female cabinet members.
Mr Erbakan has dropped previous radical Islamist rhetoric and promised a moderate programme of government action since he struck a coalition deal with Ms Ciller last week.