A statement by the Turkish opposition said today, Thursday, that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs the approval of parliament before running according to the constitution.
The statement added that Erdogan’s announcement to run for a third term violates the constitution, noting that they are still consulting to choose a candidate for the presidency.
On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that the presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey would be held on May 14, a month earlier than the previously announced date.
Erdogan did not announce the exact date of the upcoming elections, but hinted that they would be held on the 73rd anniversary of the victory of the Democratic Party (conservative) in the first free elections in modern Turkey in 1950.
The elections were initially scheduled for June 18, but many observers expected the date to be brought closer.
Turkish journalists cited reasons for moving the date forward, including the deteriorating economy, school holidays, and university entrance exams scheduled for June.
On May 14, 1950, the Democratic Party, founded in 1946 by Adnan Menderes and his dissident supporters from Mustafa Kemal’s “Ataturk” party, won the elections before being overthrown after 10 years in a military coup.
Erdogan has always likened himself to Mandres, who was dismissed for a period from the mayoralty of Istanbul and imprisoned for a short period in the nineties of the last century.
Setting May 14 as the date for the general elections is a message addressed to the conservative electorate.
And on Wednesday, Erdogan said during a meeting of deputies of his conservative Islamic “Justice and Development” party, that Menderes “said on May 14, 1950: “Enough, the people will say their word. He won at the polls.”
The Justice and Development Party has ruled Turkey since 2002, and Erdogan is a candidate for the 2023 elections.
“Our nation will direct its response to the Table of Six (opposition) coalition on the same day after 73 years,” Erdogan said in televised remarks.
Erdogan became prime minister in 2003, before amending the constitution and becoming a “president” elected by universal vote in 2014.
The opposition announced its intention to return to the parliamentary system in the event of victory.
The “Six Table” is an alliance of six Turkish parties seeking to block the path to the presidency in front of Erdogan. Only the HDP did not join the coalition.
Economic crisis
With the elections approaching, the economic crisis and inflation, which exceeded 85 percent last year before falling back to about 60 percent, are undermining the popularity of the Turkish president.
However, the opposition coalition has not yet announced a single candidate despite internal consultations that have been taking place for a year, nor has it announced its program.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, 52, is seen as a serious opposition candidate after he wrested Turkey’s richest and most prominent city from the Justice and Development Party in May 2019.
However, the issuance of a two-year prison sentence against him and banning him from political activity diminished his chances, according to many observers. He appealed the decision convicting him of “insulting” the members of the electoral commission that had nullified his first victory and then approved his victory in a second ballot.
But the leader of the secular Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, 74, is still considered the frontrunner to be the sole opposition candidate.
However, Kilicdaroglu has not yet succeeded in convincing his coalition partners that he is the perfect candidate to fight Erdogan.
