Türkiye’s two biggest parties will compete against each other and a diverse array of smaller rivals in the March 31 municipal elections. Preelection polls invariably show a tight race between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Senior names of the parties had an air of overconfidence in their recent remarks for winning the hearts of voters, citing opinion polls.
Ali Ihsan Yavuz, deputy chair of the AK Party in charge of electoral affairs, told in a televised interview on Thursday that they anticipated a “record vote” in certain places among the 81 provinces of Türkiye. “Sakarya, Konya, Trabzon and Ordu will remain our stronghold and there will be more, including Ankara and Istanbul. We have a wide lead in Hatay,” he said, in remarks related to polls the party conducted.
Eager to recapture constituencies, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, lost to the opposition in 2019, the party has conducted a detailed analysis of results from regions in which it didn’t earn any votes and designed a specific campaign for this group.
Yavuz told broadcaster Habertürk “time was on their side” as they fast approach the elections and linked it to controversies in the CHP, such as a recently emerged video of the party officials counting huge amounts of cash, allegedly allocated to “buy off” delegates for the party chair’s election. “By God’s will, we will take Istanbul back. Certainly, we are ahead but there is not a wide gap,” Yavuz acknowledged.
On the collapse of the talks for a potential alliance with the New Welfare Party (YRP), which some political pundits portray as an alternative to the AK Party in terms of voters’ ideology, Yavuz said the YRP had demands they could not meet. He said the party asked endorsement of their candidates for mayoral seats in four places, including two metropolitan municipalities. He said they sought compromise but talks ultimately failed. “We don’t know whether it would cost us votes or not. You cannot measure it exactly. Certainly, there may be (constituencies) where the lack of this alliance may impact us but you cannot form an alliance at all costs, at all times,” he said.
For CHP leader Özgür Özel, the party will have even a stronger showing than the 2019 election this time. Özel told broadcaster Sözcü TV on Thursday that the current polls showed a wide gap between their candidate, incumbent mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, and the AK Party, “unlike the slight 0.1 difference in the last election,” he said. Özel said the same high rate of approval also applies to Ankara. Özel also spoke about the controversial “cash counting” video and said it was a legitimate business deal and voters would not “care about it” while voting in the municipal elections.
