Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that he has no interest in again being re-elected as president.

The 71-year-old was on May 22 discussing his push for a new Turkish constitution when—according to Turkey’s state news service Anadolu Agency—he told journalists on a plane bringing him home from a visit to Hungary: “We want the new constitution not for ourselves but for our country. I have no interest in being re-elected or becoming a candidate again."

Erdogan’s present term in office runs to 2028 and, under the current constitution, he cannot run for president again unless he calls early elections. In Turkey, there is therefore a widely held belief that Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 22 years, wants to change the constitution in order to change the rules.

A snap election as things stand could be risky—Erdogan is facing intense opprobrium over the jailing of Istanbul mayor and main political opponent Ekrem Imamoglu, a politician who would be expected to defeat Erdogan in a fair contest, or perhaps even in an election marred by significant rigging given the strength of his popularity.

In January, Erdogan was asked by a singer if he was considering running for another term. His response was "I am, if you are." A spokesman for Erdogan’s AKP party then confirmed the issue was on the agenda, saying: "What is important is that our nation wants it."

In further comments on why Turkey in his eyes needs a fresh constitution, Erdogan said he wanted to create a constitution that has a "civilian" framework rather than one "written by coup plotters".

"In such a rapidly changing world, is it possible to get anywhere with a constitution that was written under the conditions of a coup?" he asked.

Much of the content of Turkey’s present constitution was ratified following a military coup in 1980.

The constitution allows for two five-year presidential terms. Erdogan is actually on his third term already, but he has contended that his first term took place before Turkey moved from parliamentary rule to executive presidential rule following a referendum.

To pave the way to a referendum that could bring in a new constitution allowing for further presidential terms, Erdogan needs the votes of 360 MPs in the 600-seat parliament. As things stand, he can only rely on 321. If he managed to secure 400 votes, he could bring in new constitutional rules immediately.

Should the current process aimed at establishing a durable peace with the outlawed Kurdistan People’s Party (PKK) prove successful, Erdogan might seek the support of the 56 MPs who represent the pro-Kurdish DEM party. The PKK lately announced it was disbanding, but it has not disarmed.

Erdogan said on May 21 that if the PKK laid down its arms, it would mean the DEM party could continue in politics "in a much stronger way".

Separately on May 22, US Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat, said that Turkey’s authorities should present credible evidence of corruption against Imamoglu, or immediately release him.

He spoke as he urged his colleagues to vote for a resolution calling out Erdogan over what he called democratic backsliding.

“The continued detention of Mayor Imamoglu, as well as the harassment and arrest of dozens of journalists and dissenting political voices in Turkey, is the latest in an unfortunate trend in the democratic backsliding that Turkey has seen under President Erdogan,” Schiff said in a statement to Reuters.

“The Senate should send a loud and clear message that the unjustified jailing of Erdogan’s political rivals is not acceptable.”

US President Donald Trump has not said a word about the arrest of Imamoglu, while the US State Department has dismissed the matter as Turkey’s internal affair.