President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday revealed the official process for Türkiye’s long-awaited elections would launch on March 10, effectively confirming the May 14 poll date, which was announced before two earthquakes devastated Türkiye’s southeast and claimed over 46,000 lives.
“Türkiye needs a robust government and a strong political will to recover from the recent disasters and their direct and indirect impacts,” Erdoğan said following a Cabinet meeting in the capital.
Emphasizing that Türkiye "cannot afford to waste time, and energy or be distracted at this critical moment," the president said the priority is now to “focus on the recovery process without getting bogged down in political discussions."
Erdoğan stressed the importance of leaving behind the election process as soon as possible to avoid any deviation from the recovery agenda.
The earthquakes and the recovery efforts will remain on the top agenda, he noted.
“What Türkiye needs is a full focus on healing the wounds in the earthquake zones and making up for the losses in an immediate manner,” the president said, adding that it was necessary to leave aside political and election tensions, which have inflamed in the past week because of controversy within Türkiye’s six-party opposition alliance.
“We cannot accept an election campaign covered with political quarrels, arguments and disputes when a part of our country is destroyed and 10 million people lost their homes, jobs and peace,” he added.
Erdoğan also said that they would soon publish a Presidential Decree to ensure that earthquake survivors, who had to change cities and addresses, could cast their votes.
Last Wednesday, Erdoğan dispelled rumors that elections may be postponed in the aftermath of the Feb. 6 disaster, saying the public's willpower will prevail on May 14, pointing to a final date for the vote.
The elections are expected to be a tight race according to the opposition’s Nation Alliance while some polls show Erdoğan's clear lead against the six parties. Indeed, the latest surveys showed a three-point increase exceeding 41% in the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) votes.
Erdoğan’s remarks on Monday followed a similarly anticipated statement from the opposition parties.
The Nation Alliance ended months of fractious debate and agreed to nominate the chairperson of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as their joint candidate against Erdoğan in the fast-approaching May polls.
"As a result of our meetings, we have decided that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will run as our candidate for president," Temel Karamollaoğlu, the chair of the Felicity Party (SP) announced, after hosting a meeting with the leaders of six parties.
The alliance comprises the CHP, Good Party (IP), SP, Future Party (GP), Democrat Party (DP) and the Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party, who are commonly referred to as “the table for six.”
The coalition, in a move that potentially hurt voter confidence, suffered a shocking public splinter last Friday after IP Chair Meral Akşener quit the table because of her unwillingness to endorse Kılıçdaroğlu’s presidential run, nominating instead popular Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu or Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş as presidential candidates.
Following a visit from the two mayors early on Monday, however, the IP chairperson backtracked, rejoined her partners and attended the coalition’s meeting. Her return was contingent on the alliance accepting her proposal to nominate Imamoğlu and Yavaş as vice presidents if the opposition wins the election.
On Tuesday, the CHP leader addressed his party’s parliamentary group meeting for what he called “the last time” and said the alliance would “achieve our goals together.”
“Ms. Akşener, too, knows very well how to express her stance. She can also be an idealist sometimes,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, in what appeared to be forgiveness for last week’s events.
The party will not be holding a group meeting until the elections.
Having secured the bloc’s trust and become its torchbearer at last, Kılıçdaroğlu on Monday reiterated the six parties’ promise to “unite all of Türkiye’s colors on the same table.”
“As the chairs of the Nation Alliance, we have come to a consensus on our roadmap for the transition to a ‘Strengthened Parliamentary System,’” the 74-year-old former civil servant told reporters following the meeting.
Türkiye did away with the parliamentary system in a 2017 referendum and fully shifted to a presidential system of government in 2018.
Besides rolling back existing economic policies and introducing a major shift in foreign policy, the opposition promises to bring back the position of prime minister and to have other leaders of the bloc as vice presidents if Kılıçdaroğlu clinches the vote, which would mean eight state heads steering the country.
A joint statement from the bloc assured: "During the transition process, we will govern Türkiye through consultation and consensus, in line with the principles and objectives of the Strengthened Parliamentary System and the reference texts we have come to an agreement with, within the framework of the Constitution, law, separation of powers, balance and supervision principles.”
The bloc aims to complete and put into effect “constitutional amendments regarding the transition to the Strengthened Parliamentary System as soon as possible in line with the structure of Parliament that will be formed after the elections.”
"The distribution of ministries will be determined according to the number of deputies elected by the Nation Alliance parties in the general election and each of the parties will be represented by at least one minister in the Cabinet," it said.
According to the roadmap, the appointment and dismissal of ministers will be made by the president in agreement with the leader of the political party to which they belong. The president will also have to consult the leaders in the alliance for the renewal of elections, the declaration of a state of emergency, national security policies, presidential decisions, decrees and general regulatory procedures, and senior appointments.
During the transition process, mechanisms will be established to coordinate the realization of legislative activities, too.
“In this period, the president will use their executive power and duty under the principles of participation, consultation and consensus. The distribution of powers and duties to the Presidential Cabinet (vice presidents and ministers) will be determined by the presidential decree to be issued within the framework of the Constitution and laws,” it underlined.
“With the completion of the transition to the strengthened parliamentary system, the political party membership of the current president, if any, will come to an end.”
The joint roadmap also revealed that Imamoğlu and Yavaş’s appointments as vice presidents with defined duties would be at a time deemed appropriate by the president, allowing the mayors to keep their seats until the local elections.
In the meantime, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), so far publicly excluded from the Nation Alliance despite being the third largest in Parliament, is looking to field its own candidate while grappling with a closure case on the sidelines.
Following the opposition’s fracturing, HDP officials reiterated their commitment to their Labor and Freedom Alliance and revealed the bloc would reconsider determining their presidential nominee.
Following Monday’s reunion, however, co-chair Mithat Sancar said the party “may support Kılıçdaroğlu after clear, open talks.”
"Our clear expectation is a transition for a strong democracy. If we can agree on fundamental principles, we may support him in presidential elections," Sancar said in a live broadcast on private broadcaster Habertürk.
The party’s other co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, currently jailed on a myriad of charges mostly terrorist-related, previously urged his party to back the Nation Alliance’s candidate, as well.
Many consider the HDP, a party widely censured for having close ties with the PKK terror group, a “hidden partner” in the Nation Alliance due to the CHP’s frequent attempts to court the party’s mainly Kurdish voter base.
