As he heads to a race for a new term in office, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan weighed in on the ongoing debate for a possible change in the date of presidential elections. Speaking to reporters after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting on Wednesday, the president said whatever the public debate is, it will certainly be on the presidency’s agenda.
“We are steered by what the public talks about,” he said, but they would wait until “the water is still,” he said, referring to a saying about ideas that cannot be implemented before a proper argument, debate.
The next presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye are expected to be held in June 2023. The AK Party and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are partners under the People's Alliance, with Erdoğan serving as the alliance's candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.
Snap polls have been the main agenda for opposition parties, which created the “table for six” alliance.
Earlier this week, AK Party spokesperson Ömer Çelik stated that the party was considering a "slight change" on the election date scheduled for mid-June. When asked about snap elections during a press conference, Çelik said: "Since this date (initial date for elections) corresponds with the summer holiday season when people are traveling, we are evaluating bringing the date slightly forward." "This change of date will not amount to snap elections... There's no final decision from the higher board of the party yet, we are still evaluating the circumstances," Çelik added.
The opposition insists on having elections before the implementation of the election and political party law on April 6, 2022, which, under the Constitution, could apply to the next scheduled election, one year after it came into effect. The law reforms elections by increasing the vote threshold for parties by having their lawmakers directly elected into Parliament, something that would affect smaller parties.
Currently, there are two possibilities for elections in case of a change in the June election date, including the president’s dissolution of Parliament or 360 lawmakers voting for elections.
Erdoğan, who carried the ruling AK Party to victory more than two decades ago and led successive wins since then, appears the clear favorite in some pre-election surveys, ahead of the CHP, the strongest rival of the AK Party, which defeated the main opposition easily in all general elections since early 2000s. The 2023 elections, however, might be the first time with two rounds as it will be the first since the country switched to a presidential system of government. A two-round election may result in three possibilities according to experts: The People’s Alliance securing the parliamentary majority, the opposition’s “table for six” securing it, or a failure of both sides to secure the majority for proper governance. Though the “table for six” shied away from announcing a jointly endorsed candidate so far, they are like-minded in their commitment to remove the system of presidential government if they come to power.
