MHP won’t run away from polls: Bahçeli
ANKARA
Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has said his party won’t run away from the polls and won’t disregard democracy amid discussions about whether the upcoming presidential and parliamentary polls might be postponed due to the massive earthquake disaster.
“Relax, little patience. The Turkish people will soon vote you [the opposition alliance] down. It should be well known that we are not running away from the polls, and we don’t disregard democracy,” Bahçeli said in his weekly address to his lawmakers at the Parliament on Feb. 21.
Bahçeli harshly slammed the opposition parties for speculating over the election date at a time the country was still trying to save lives from the rubble as a result of devastating earthquakes in 11 provinces on Feb. 6. More than 40.000 people were killed in the earthquakes.
“In the middle of our painful days, the opposition alliance that launches a polemic over whether the polls should be postponed or not is paranoiac, obsessive and dreamer,” Bahçeli said. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had earlier noted May 14 as the ideal day to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections. The latest day for holding the polls is June 18.
A former ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) official, Bülent Arınç, has suggested that the polls should be postponed as there is not sufficient infrastructure in the earthquake-hit areas. The opposition, however, reiterated that the constitution stipulates a one year postponement of the polls only in case the parliament declares a war against another country.
Bahçeli also criticized the oppositional Nation Alliance who claimed that the scope of the disaster has increased due to the existing executive-presidential governance model. “How can you still defame the executive-presidential system when our 10 provinces have been collapsed?” Bahçeli asked.
MHP leader also praised the government’s response to the disaster as effective.
