Opposition leaders to meet to discuss 2023 election strategy

ANKARA

The leaders of six oppositional parties will come together next weekend to discuss the strategy they will pursue in the 2023 polls following the government’s proposal to amend the electoral law.

Ali Babacan, chairman of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), will host the leaders of the oppositional leaders at a dinner on March 27 in Ankara. It will be the third in-person meeting of the leaders since early February.

The meeting will bring Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener, Felicity Party leader Temel Karamollaoğlu, Democrat Party leader Gültekin Uysal and Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu together under Babacan’s hospitality.

The leaders are expected to largely discuss the strategies they should pursue for the 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a draft law to amend the electoral legislation.

The draft law suggests reducing the national threshold to 7 percent, but more importantly, it stipulates that any political party running in the elections within an alliance should pass this threshold to gain seats in the parliament.

This amendment introduces difficulties for smaller parties, like the DEVA Party, the Future Party, the Democrat Party and the Felicity Party, whose vote potential is far from reaching 7 percent. One of the options for these parties is to run in the elections with the ticket of the two larger political parties, the CHP or the İYİ Party.

“They are now attempting to change the law with the concern of how we can save our seats. If a politician has started to change the laws just for keeping his seat, it means no use comes to the country from this politician,” Kılıçdaroğlu said at a meeting with young people over the weekend.

“Whatever they do, we will send them from the government democratically,” he added.