Turkey’s parliament elected a new speaker at the first attempt on Thursday in a move that initiates the more important and potentially more divisive process of choosing the country’s new president.

Parliament elected Koksal Toptan, a member of the Justice and Development party (AKP), as the new speaker by a large majority of the 550 MPs after he received the backing of opposition parties. The job is influential and is usually reserved for an MP from the party with the largest number of MPs.