MaPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a heavy setback in the Turkish local elections held on 31 December. At regional levels, the opposition Republic People’s Party (CHP) won many of the major cities. Therefore, AKP has come forward alleging election irregularities. In 2019 also, AKP raised the same demand in some cities where CHP won. Erdogan’s party contested the CHP’s victory in Istanbul and Ankara, but the CHP maintained its victory in the second count.
CHP’s Mansur Yavas won in Ankara with 60 percent of the vote. Ikrem Imamoglu also won in Istanbul. The CHP also won the third largest city, Izmir. The opposition also won in the cities of Bursa, Adana and Antalya. Anadolu news agency reports that the CHP has clear gains in 36 out of 81 provinces. The official figure is that 76 percent of the total 6.1 crore voters voted.
The biggest feature of this election is that the vote of the Communist Party (TKP) has almost doubled. TKP got 1,27,000 votes this time. The TKP Central Committee, which met on April 1, assessed the preliminary figures that this was twice the number of votes received in the previous election, but not a true reflection of its political influence.
The Communist Party ran without a coalition in Hatay’s Defne district, one of the worst-hit areas in the earthquake. The TKP, which ran on a promise to rebuild the earthquake-ravaged city, won more than 39 percent of the vote but lost the mayor’s seat by a narrow margin. The TKP won more than 1 percent of the vote in 32 districts and several small cities in the country, and was unique in Turkey’s most conservative regions. It won 10 municipal council seats and one provincial council seat. The central committee considered the most important achievement of the party during the election period was that it was able to form units and mobilize workers in new areas.
This election result also shows that the popular support of General Tayyip Erdogan, who came to power 21 years ago, is falling day by day. Erdogan did not manage to win a majority in the first round of presidential elections held in May last year. But that was not the case in 2014 and 2018. This is the first time his party has faced a nationwide backlash since coming to power. One-fifth of the country’s total population of 8.5 crore resides in Istanbul, where the CHP has maintained its victory this time.
It is important that Erdogan suffered a setback in the election when the country was going through a very miserable life, social and political situation. Increasing both the cost of living and poverty is being implemented as if it were the agenda of the ruling class. The election results are also a reflection of the widespread resistance and resistance of the working people against this. However, including TKP, it is estimated that the disunity of the opposition is helping the ruling class. Last year’s parliamentary and presidential elections were held amidst the misery of the people and the insecurity created by the earthquake in the society. At that stage, when there was a contest between the opposition and the ruling party AKP, Erdogan was saved by the people’s decision of a stable government. But even after a year, the people also felt that it was not possible to implement the election promises or bring relief to the people in the earthquake-ravaged areas. That is why the CHP was able to win the local elections. However, the Communist Party has assessed that if it was possible to create a more coherent opposition coalition, the defeat of Erdogan’s party would be more severe.
Last year’s presidential election in May, Erdogan had to go to the second round because of the presence of a coherent opposition coalition. But it ended with election defeat. However, the CHP, which led the coalition last time, got 38 percent of the votes nationwide, according to official figures. 36 percent for AKP. The opposition CHP won nearly two percent of the vote. This is the first time in three-and-a-half decades that an opposition party has such an upper hand. But the situation would have been much better if he had developed an alliance with other opposition parties.
The Communist Party has received the support of more than two percent of the votes in this year’s elections if it is calculated in the whole country. AKP would have had more impact if these vote shares had been aligned. Speaking to his supporters at the party headquarters in Ankara, Erdogan himself admitted that the election results were a setback for him and his party. These failures should be foreseen by Erdogan who said that he will not stand in the next election.
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2024-04-03 22:45:00
