President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is planning to adhere to an election timetable declared earlier, after two earthquakes devastated Türkiye’s southeast and left over 43,000 dead, according to sources close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

Erdoğan and his senior AK Party members held a seven-hour-long meeting Wednesday to discuss the postponement of the much-anticipated election date and their conclusion was to stick with the proposed vote on May 14.

Maintaining his silence about the elections for the past two weeks, the president has scrapped the original date of June 18 because it coincides with the end of the school semester, the departure of 100,000 citizens for the hajj pilgrimage, and high school and university entrance exams, as well as the possibility of a runoff election that would fall on Qurban Bayram, also known as Eid al-Adha, sources said.

A majority of AK Party lawmakers are also said to be on board with a May 14 vote.

While Türkiye reels from the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, which have been dubbed "the disaster of the century," Erdoğan’s government has been striving to step up recovery efforts and repel a hit on the country’s economy through an "all-encompassing" reconstruction push.

It also sought to disperse any doubt cast on the election date amid ongoing debates over whether a postponement is warranted, particularly protests from the opposition alliance, which was expected to announce their presidential candidate this month.

Devlet Bahçeli, the head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Erdoğan’s partner in the People’s Alliance, also hit back at the opposition for generating "an election date polemic in the throes of Türkiye’s pain."

"The People’s Alliance will never run from a vote or negate democracy," Bahçeli declared.

Özgür Özel, an official of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), this week told reporters it was "possible" to recover from the earthquakes and hold the vote on May 14 or on June 18 "if Erdoğan decides to do so."

Electoral promises

The AK Party’s election campaign and declaration, which will reportedly take shape around the "Rebuilding Türkiye" slogan linked to the party’s previously announced "Century of Türkiye" vision, are back on its agenda, as well.

Under the "For Türkiye, the Time is Now" banner, the party is looking to freeze all previous electoral activities and revise its campaign in line with the earthquake.

From the music to the meetings and promises the declaration will employ, the primary item of the AK Party’s campaign for the 2023 elections is set to be earthquake recovery efforts.

The declaration further contains promises on life safety, the environment, housing, earthquakes and Türkiye’s intervention processes in the future, with the aim of "swiftly" rebuilding and rehabilitating the 11 provinces hit by the disaster and facilitating the return of citizens displaced after the earthquakes.

AK Party deputies will be preaching projects and measures on earthquake safety while maintaining the "economy" as a top item. The economic aspect of the disaster, measures and initiatives designed to protect living standards will feature heavily in the declaration.

The party will either cancel or minimize its public rallies, such as opting to hold the meetings in earthquake zones without music.

Safety and reconstruction

Activating former Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş’s earthquake emergency action plan against a potential tremor in Türkiye’s top metropolis was another topic raised at the AK Party meeting.

During a visit to Kahramanmaraş with Bahçeli, Erdoğan himself said the plan was now in motion against possible disasters that could strike either Istanbul or anywhere else in the country.

As he toured each province damaged by the earthquakes, the president assured victims that they would be able to return to permanent residences within one year. Until then, prefabricated housing units will accommodate homeless locals who prefer to stay in their hometowns. A large number of people have already left disaster-hit provinces, taking shelter with their relatives in other cities, staying at hotels offering free accommodation or elsewhere.

Erdoğan also vowed accountability for the collapse of buildings during the tremors, while authorities arrested scores of people, from contractors to engineers who built the destroyed structures.

Also according to the AK Party declaration, Hatay, which took the brunt of the damage and destruction during the Feb. 6 tremors, is set to be revived through an exclusive project.

The Hatay rehabilitation initiative will endeavor to preserve the city’s cultural fabric, as well as demographic, which is a shared goal for all disaster-hit provinces.

All buildings destroyed in the earthquake will be reconstructed in the safest way possible and a "My Workplace" project aims to bring Hatay residents that fled the wreckage back to their city. Setting up an advisory board, similar to the health board that oversaw the COVID-19 outbreak, is on the table to ensure a transparent and reliable process.

As part of its campaign and recovery operations, the ruling party is also planning to revise Türkiye’s soil studies and clear regulatory deadlocks, using the necessary technology "as quickly as possible."

Mandating a special accreditation document for contractors too is included in the declaration in order to end the era of unlicensed construction.

While some analysts argue the recent economic hardships in Türkiye and the latest disaster could complicate Erdoğan’s reelection chances, the Turkish leader has led his AK Party to consecutive victories in the past 20 years and has been confident of a win, especially against a disorganized opposition that he says "still lags behind in creating new projects."