Erdogan formally sets May 14 election date
Ankara, The Gulf Observer: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking to extend his two decades in power, on Friday formally set the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections for May 14 — a month earlier than scheduled despite last month’s devastating earthquake.
The elections could be the country’s most significant vote in decades. It will determine whether the country will take a more democratic path or continue on the increasingly authoritarian course set by the strongman politician.
Erdogan has ruled over Turkiye since 2003 — first as prime minister and as president since 2014 — but this year’s elections could be his most challenging.
The country is struggling with a troubled economy, soaring inflation and the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of people across 11 Turkish provinces sheltering in tents or temporary accommodation.
The six-party opposition, known as the Nation Alliance, has vowed to restore a parliamentary democracy in Turkiye should they dislodge Erdogan, abolishing the presidential system that he introduced. Opponents say the system, which was narrowly approved in a 2017 referendum and was installed following elections in 2018, has amounted to “one-man rule” without checks and balances.
In addition to Kilicdaroglu’s CHP, the opposition alliance is made of Meral Aksener’s nationalist Good Party; Temel Karamollaoglu’s conservative Felicity Party; Gultekin Uysal’s Democrat Party; The Democracy and Progress Party led by Ali Babacan; and Future Party chaired by Ahmet Davutoglu.
