AKP to have 30 minutes, opposition to have 20 minutes each for referendum TV slots

Oya Armutçu – ANKARA

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Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will have the right to carry out three 10-minute official campaign broadcasts on TV and radio for the upcoming referendum on charter amendments, while opposition parties and the president will enjoy two speeches with the same duration. 

According to the charter amendment referendum law, the four political parties with seats in parliament will have the right to carry out official campaign broadcasts ahead of the vote. The duration of the speeches will be 30 minutes in total for the AKP and 20 minutes in total for each opposition party in parliament, namely the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, meanwhile, will also have two 10-minute speeches, although these will be on a volunteer basis.

The Supreme Election Council’s (YSK) CHP representative, Mehmet Hadimi Yakupoğlu said the regulation allowing both the president and the ruling party to carry out propaganda should be removed, because current laws stipulate that the president must remain neutral. If the president acts in favor of a political party there can be no platform for “fair and equal election conditions,” Yakupoğlu said.    

The schedule of the broadcasts by the parties and the president will be determined based on drawings.