YUMAK AND SADAK v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 11 had taken part in the elections under the banner of other political parties with the aim of circumventing section 16 of Law no. 2839, which makes it illegal to form joint lists before elections. The government was based on a coalition of two parties. In those elections the eighteen candidates of the HEP (People’s Labour Party, pro-Kurdish) were elected to Parliament on the list of the (social-democratic) SHP; they later resigned from the SHP to join the ranks of their own party, the HEP. 47. In the general election of 24 December 1995, five parties gained seats in Parliament. However, as none of them had a parliamentary majority, a coalition was formed. 48. The 1999 parliamentary elections again resulted in no party having a parliamentary majority. Five political parties won seats in the National Assembly. A coalition of three parties formed a government. 49. Before the election on 3 November 2002, the year which had seen the highest proportion of votes going to parties not ultimately represented in Parliament was 1987, with 19.4% of the votes cast. In 1991, owing to the participation of two pre-electoral coalitions, one between the RP, the MÇP and the IDP and the other between the SHP and the HEP, that proportion was brought down to 0.5%. After the elections on 22 July 2007 it was 13.1%. 50. As indicated above (see paragraphs 12-21), the elections of 3 November 2002 enabled the AKP to form a stable government which lasted until 22 July 2007, notwithstanding the fact that 45.3% of the votes – approximately 14,500,000 votes – were not reflected in the composition of Parliament. B. Relevant Council of Europe documents 51. The Council of Europe has not laid down binding rules on the question of electoral thresholds. 1. Documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 52. The relevant part of Resolution 1547 (2007) on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe, adopted by the Assembly on 18 April 2007, reads as follows: “58. In well-established democracies, there should be no thresholds higher than 3% during the parliamentary elections. It should thus be possible to express a maximum number of opinions. Excluding numerous groups of people from the right to be represented is detrimental to a democratic system. In well-established democracies, a balance has to be found between fair representation of views in the community and effectiveness in Parliament and government.” 53. In its Recommendation 1791 (2007) on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe, adopted on 18 April 2007, the Assembly recommended that the Committee of Ministers take measures to remedy the