AKP's election list ‘stamped by Erdoğan, marked by Davutoğlu’

Deniz Zeyrek - ANKARA

Ankara politics is heavily focused on the composition of the next government, with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (above) regarded as the strongest candidate to succeed President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. AA Photo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threw his weight around in the drawing up of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) candidate list for the June 7 general elections, though Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has also put his own mark on it.

With the list, which was submitted to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) on April 7, Erdoğan clearly showed that he is still the “natural leader” of the party, while the list also indicates that Davutoğlu will be the party’s indisputable “second man.”

Daily Hürriyet has examined all the names in the AKP’s lists of candidates for all 81 provinces across Turkey and drawn the following conclusions:

A MEASURE AGAINST THE HDP

The AKP has opted to take precautions against the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is trying to surpass the 10 percent national election threshold. To do this, the AKP decided to closely consider the priorities of the grassroots voter base, instead of local branches, in election districts with larger Kurdish populations. This is why it has nominated more feudal landlords as deputy candidates compared to the 2011 elections.


BACK TO ‘NATIONAL VIEW’

The ongoing fight against the movement of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen is reflected in the AKP’s list as a return to the “Milli Görüş” (National View) of its original Islamist ideology. After the political excommunication of Gülen sympathizers, the void has apparently been filled by candidates with a National View background. The AKP also seems to have discounted wooing Turkey’s Christian minorities, Alevis and liberals, as it now considers these communities as “unconquerable.” The nomination of Turkish-Armenian columnist Markar Esayan can be viewed not as a bid to win votes from the Armenian community, but rather as a personal reward for his unswerving support for the party. 


ERDOĞAN’S INITIATIVE


Those who serve for three terms as AKP members of parliament become ineligible to be nominated again due to internal party rules. Of the remainder, however, 105 AKP deputies have still not been nominated, while 137 have been nominated as a result of Erdoğan’s pressure. The president’s son-in-law and all of his closest aides are highly likely become AKP deputies in the next parliament and some may become cabinet ministers, where they would be expected to work hard to switch Turkey’s parliamentary system to a presidential one. As a result, these names have been described as “Erdoğan’s inner cabinet” and the AKP list has been dubbed “the presidency list.”


DAVUTOĞLU PAVES HIS WAY


Meanwhile, Prime Minister Davutoğlu has left out almost all figures linked to AKP heavyweights like Abdullah Gül, Binali Yıldırım, Numan Kurtulmuş, Beşir Atalay and Bülent Arınç. These names were considered to be contenders for the seat of the party chair after Erdoğan left. As one party member told daily Hürriyet: “Tayyip Erdoğan is always the natural leader of the party and there is only one ‘second man.’ Whoever you ask in the future parliamentary group of the party, you will hear that the second name is Hodja,” referring to the respectful nickname of Davutoğlu, a former academic.


KEY FIGURE SOYLU IS BACK


Süleyman Soylu, the AKP’s deputy chair in charge of party organization, has not been getting along with Davutoğlu in recent months. However, the AKP’s list shows that Soylu has regained the trust of both Erdoğan and Davutoğlu, so we should get ready to hear his name more frequently.


OLD ALLIES HEADING TO THE EXITS


The AKP was something of an umbrella party in 2002, with conservative parties such as the Saadet Party, the Great Union Party (BBP) and Hüdapar as natural allies. Now, only former members of the True Path Party (DYP) and the Democrat Party (DP) remain in the AKP from Turkey’s previous era. In addition, most symbolic names of the party are retiring from politics due to the three-term limit. Only 10-15 of them are expected to retain roles in the party HQ or in the presidential palace, heralding a new era of fresh blood within the AKP. Time will tell whether this will be able to renew the 14-year-old party.