Türkiye will hold local elections on March 31, a significant test for the government and the opposition. Thirty-four political parties will vie for votes in 81 provinces.
Almost all parties unveiled their candidates for mayor and municipal assembly seats, but the Supreme Election Board (YSK) will declare the final list on March 3. A campaign ban will come into force on March 21.
More than 61 million people are eligible to vote, and 1 million young voters will cast their ballots for the first time in this election. More than 50% of the voters are women, while men make up 49.1% of the electorate, according to the statistics. More than 3.3 million of voters are aged 75 and above. Most of the electorate is in 30 big cities, while more than 13.5 million voters will cast their ballots in 51 other cities.
Voters in opposition-run municipalities mostly complain about the lack of municipal services, such as problems in water utility that lead to frequent water outages and traffic issues stemming from troubles in road construction and improvement of existing roads.
The municipal elections are poised to be a critical test for the opposition parties, which were united under a coalition in 2019 that only fell apart after last May's defeat in general elections.
Despite new management, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) faces dwindling odds as its allies, the nationalist Good Party (IP) and the pro-PKK Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), a successor of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which fielded their own candidates. Though YSP signaled support for CHP in some constituencies, the main opposition party is still challenged by voters' disappointment at some candidates.
