Muharrem Ince, who lost to incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential elections, is once again challenging Erdoğan. His Homeland Party (MP) nominated Ince for the May 14 elections after a vote by party members on Sunday. More than 105,000 members of the party cast their ballots for Ince, a former physics teacher.
Speaking before the start of the vote at every branch of the party across Türkiye, Ince told reporters in the capital Ankara that it was a rare democratic practice among Turkish political parties to choose their candidate through a vote.
On questions about whether the member of Parliament may join the opposition alliance or People’s Alliance of ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and others, Ince said people "don’t have to embed us in some alliance." "Let’s see what our campaign will bring about," he said. Ince said they will check voter surveys and may decide upon a course of action "two days before the elections."
Ince appears to be riding a wave of popularity on social media as an alternative to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) who was nominated by the National Alliance made up of six opposition parties. Like underdog Mustafa Sarıgül, head of the Party for Change in Türkiye (TDP), he seeks to endear himself to young voters with his videos, showing the 58-year-old politician dancing. Yet, his chances appear slim for now against Kılıçdaroğlu, who trails behind Erdoğan in recent surveys.
Ince started his political career in the CHP and was elected as the party’s lawmaker from the Yalova constituency during the 2002 elections. He twice challenged the leadership of Kılıçdaroğlu, in 2014 and 2018, but failed to garner enough votes to defeat him in the CHP’s intra-party election. Yet, Kılıçdaroğlu, whose party repeatedly lost all elections against the AK Party in two decades, nominated him as a contender against Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential elections. Erdoğan secured a landslide victory in the elections while Ince is credited with boosting the CHP’s vote for the first time in decades in such an election, to over 30%. After the post-election fallout with the CHP, Ince went on to establish his own party in 2021.
A total of 36 political parties will compete in the upcoming elections, which are expected to be a tight race between the People’s Alliance and the opposition bloc. Along with Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu, Ince will compete against Sinan Oğan, candidate for a smaller alliance of opposition parties portraying themselves as "nationalists," as well as Doğu Perinçek, head of the Patriotic Party. Other serious contenders include heads of smaller opposition parties, including Ahmet Özal, son of former president Turgut Özal, and Öztürk Yılmaz, a former diplomat who leads the Innovation Party.