Will there be early local elections?

Recently, this is one of the questions I am most frequently asked.

They say not an early general election, but there may be early local elections.

A constitutional amendment is needed for this. This can be done if the parties agree.

That’s why it’s important what the government will do, which the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will support.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the issue of “eraly elections” is not on the agenda; while the main opposition  Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader asked for early local elections.

We have to ask from where these backstage rumors are coming from.

Mayors from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been resigning. This process has an important effect on increasing the backstage rumors.

Actually, election years mean a waiting period for every country.

Naturally, politics focuses on the ballot box and this slows down bureaucracy.

One can better understand this after coming out of four elections and one referendum in a year and a half.

Therefore, it would be ideal to hold elections the same year and afterwards focus on the things that need to be done, but politics has other requirements sometimes.

It is widely spoken whether there can be an early local election and not a general one.

There cannot be success in the general elections without success in the local ones.

Why are local elections important?

That is because success in the local elections also affects general elections.

Municipal services affect citizens.

They are in close contact with the people. Municipalities know and can read the real needs of citizens much better.

Because those who cannot be successful in the local elections also cannot be successful in the general elections.

Therefore, the upcoming municipal elections are more important than we think.

I wish the candidates would become clear in advance.

Naturally, we set our eyes on the three big cities: İzmir, İstanbul and Ankara.

Because these are the vote depositories and their results affect Turkey’s general elections.

That’s why, the latest referendum results are being reevaluated.

Generally, the candidates are announced in the last 45 days.

I wish there was more time to get to know the mayor candidates.

These days, there are also talks that the law on political parties will be changed.

This should be one of the articles that is changed and the candidate calendar should be brought forward.

This way, parties would have a better chance to introduce their projects and citizens would have a better chance to get to know, understand and evaluate them.

Would it be that bad? The right local development is very important.

They make dried mandarins in the Aegean province of İzmir’s Seferihisar municipality.

They are incredible, natural and delicious.

The mastermind behind this project is Seferihisar Mayor Tunç Soyer.

When the mandarins remained unsold by producers, they built a drying facility sourced by geothermal energy in the village of Doğanbey.

After the first tests, they saw the results were very successful.

This project was awarded by the Sustainability Academy and they definitely deserved it.

Because this is a work model that can set an example for local development.