Türkiye’s top election body has determined that four candidates, including incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are eligible to run in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
The final list of candidates was published on the Official Gazette early on Friday, including main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Homeland Party (MP) leader Muharrem Ince and a nationalist bloc representative Sinan Oğan.
Ince already ran against Erdoğan once in 2018 and was defeated. He also lost to Kılıçdaroğlu in a mutiny for CHP leadership immediately afterward, but he has been witnessing a surge in popularity this pre-election season, raising fears in the opposition camp of splintering Kılıçdaroğlu’s votes.
Erdoğan's alliance includes his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) the Great Union Party (BBP), and two other smaller parties, the New Welfare Party (YRP) and the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR).
Kılıçdaroğlu is the candidate of a six-party opposition bloc, a rare combination of secularists, religious conservatives and nationalists, who are objecting to the CHP leader soliciting support from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the second-strongest opposition party in Parliament and currently battling a lawsuit for its ban over alleged collusion with PKK terrorists.
The elections are set to be a challenge for all contenders who will be treading the delicate balance of persuading voters without overbearing in the wake of the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes, which only piled on top of an existing cost-of-living crisis.
While initial polls suggest it will be a tight race between Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu, the latest surveys have placed Erdoğan ahead of his rivals, showing that he would be the absolute winner if the vote prolongs into a second round.
A candidate must get more than 50% of the votes to be elected in the first round. If not, a second round will be held on May 28.
