Gov’t mulls not to postpone elections: Reports
ANKARA
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is not considering postponing the upcoming presidential and parliamentary polls, the Turkish media reports suggest, underlining that the simultaneous election can be held either in mid-May or on June 18.
According to a report by the daily Hürriyet on Feb. 17, the AKP, for now, is not considering postponing the twin polls slated for spring 2023. Led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the government’s five-year term will end in June 2023, and the polls should normally take place on June 18.
However, citing nationwide university exams in June, Erdoğan, who is also the chairman of the AKP, had already voiced May 14 as the ideal date for holding the polls. He had said earlier he would issue a decree on March 10 in order to bring the polls forward to May 14.
All these decisions were given before two major earthquakes hit Türkiye’s 11 provinces in the southern Anatolian region on Feb. 6. A former senior AKP official, Bülent Arınç, argued that the polls cannot take place under these conditions and suggested postponing them. The opposition alliance harshly reacted to Arınç’s statement, stressing that there is sufficient time for making arrangements for holding polls. It also recalled that the polls can only be postponed for a year in case the Turkish Parliament declares war against a country.
According to the Hürriyet report, Erdoğan still believes that May 14 is the ideal date to hold the elections, while some AKP officials suggest June 18 for the polls. The Supreme Election Board (YSK) will run the necessary works for making the arrangements to prepare new electoral lists and secure where the quake survivors will be able to cast their votes.
The elections were on the agenda of Erdoğan’s meeting with his closest ally, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The two parties, along with the Great Union Party (BBP), built the People Alliance, which has already nominated Erdoğan as its joint presidential candidate.
