Turkish premier loses his majority

Ailing Turkish Premier Bulent Ecevit's has lost his majority in parliament after six more MPs from the governing coalition resigned.

The government now has only half the seats in the 550 member legislature.

Ecevit had vowed to resign if this happened, but he seemed to have backtracked from his promise, telling the Sabah newspaper that if he lost his absolute majority, he would confer with his coalition members before making a decision as to whether to withdraw.

"We don't want to rush to a decision, we will assess all possibilities," Ecevit said.

Leaders of the ruling coalition were due to meet later today to discuss conflicting demands from different parties for early elections. The current parliament is due to end in 2004.

For the opposition to oust the government, it would have to muster 276 votes to support a motion of no confidence. The opposition controls 262 seats in the parliament, which has 13 empty seats.

Ecevit's government is on the verge of collapse following a wave of defections from his party and bickering among his partners over reforms the European Union has demanded in return for consideration for membership.

Since last week, 59 MPs have left Ecevit's Democratic Left Party. A group of nine dissident MPs met the premier today in a bid to persuade him to call an emergency party congress, a move that could pave the way for his replacement.

But they said Ecevit had rejected the call.