YSK says 4 potential contenders to race for presidency

ANKARA

According to a temporary list published in the Official Gazette by the Supreme Election Board (YSK), the people of Türkiye will elect its new president out of four contenders, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the opposition candidate, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

A deadline for an independent presidential candidate to collect 100,000 signatures in order to run in the polls expired late on March 27. Only two politicians, Muharrem İnce and Sinan Oğan, could garner the required popular support to be qualified as contenders.

İnce got more than 114,000 and Oğan more than 111,000 signatures during the six-day campaign. Other applicants, such as Patriotic Party Chair Doğu Perinçek and New Welfare Party Chair Fatih Erbakan failed to exceed the required 100,000 signatures. Erbakan has earlier announced that he withdraws his candidacy as his party joined the People’s Alliance.

Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacies were submitted by their respective political parties, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). İYİ (Good) Party also signed the CHP’s petition for Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy as he will run as the joint candidate of the Nation Alliance.

The YSK will publish the final list of candidates on March 31.