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Everything you need to know about the elections in Turkey, Erdogan breaks his silence: If I lose, I will leave power

2023-05-13 20:40:42Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Everything you need to know about the elections in Turkey, Erdogan breaks his
Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey votes on Sunday for a new parliament and president. After 20 years, current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not the clear favorite in the race. According to polls, even his electoral alliance is behind the opposition alliance.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has broken his silence regarding the elections held on Sunday.

"We came to power democratically. If my nation decides otherwise, we will do what democracy demands. We will consider legitimate any result that will come out of the ballot boxes".

This was the statement of the Turkish president during a live interview broadcast by most TV channels in Turkey.

Turkey votes to elect a new head of state. The representative of opposition forces, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, is challenging Erdogan, who is seeking a third term but appears to be struggling more than ever.

What is the political system in Turkey?

Since its establishment in 1923, the Republic of Turkey has been a constitutional parliamentary democracy. But according to Erdoğan's wish, this had to be changed. And this is what the ruling party AKP, with the support of its ultra-nationalist partner MHP, did in 2017. The presidential system was then introduced with the 2018 elections. Since then, the president is the head of state, who also leads the government. The office of the Prime Minister no longer exists.

The president is directly elected by the people for five years and has broad powers under the new system. He appoints and dismisses ministers and senior officials at his discretion, and also chairs the cabinet. The ministers he appoints can appoint governors and state officials in provinces and districts, so the president can also exert his influence in local communities.

The head of state also has the power to issue presidential decrees and appoint numerous posts in the judiciary, finance and education. The most important posts of the secret service or the powerful religious authority Diyanet are also under the direct responsibility of the President.

With the introduction of the presidential system, the principle that the President must be above-party was removed. Outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was thus able to retain the presidency of his ruling Islamist conservative party, the AKP. Since then, there has been practically no division of functions and mandate.

Who is running for president?

There are four candidates for the presidential elections. Outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu are in a neck-and-neck race. According to many polls, the candidate of the largest opposition alliance, Kilicdaroglu, is even in the lead, which makes Erdogan and the government camp increasingly nervous.

Support values ​​for the other two candidates range from 2 to 6%. Their candidacy means that the president will be determined only in the second round.

Does Parliament matter?

During his mandate, Erdoğan adapted the state apparatus to himself and continuously expanded his powers.

Although the number of deputies increased from 550 to 600 with the introduction of the presidential system, Erdogan made the Turkish parliament irrelevant. Further laws can be discussed and approved, but the government camp with its dominant majority has blocked all opposition projects in the parliament and has only pushed its political agenda. With its majority, the government has prevented the demands of the opposition, such as the establishment of investigative commissions after major disasters or accusations of corruption. In most cases, the government has not even answered the opposition's questions.

How many eligible voters are there?

According to official figures, more than 64.1 million people have the right to vote in the May 14 elections. Among them, more than 3.4 million live abroad. In terms of weight, votes from abroad thus come in fourth place after the largest Turkish metropolises Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Voting abroad began on April 27.

In the 2018 elections, participation in Turkey was over 86%, while abroad it was around 50%.

With around 53%, Erdogan won the presidency in the first round in 2018 and his electoral alliance received almost 54% of the valid votes in Turkey. Abroad, Erdogan and his electoral alliance have had more success, both winning more than 60% among Turks living abroad.

According to the Turkish electoral authority, 167,000 Syrians have the right to vote in the upcoming presidential and legislative elections. This is followed by 23,000 people from Afghanistan, 21,000 people from Iran, 16,000 people from Iraq and 6,000 people from Libya. With the exception of the pro-Kurdish HDP, all parties run on an election promise to return refugees as soon as possible to where they came from.


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