Turkiye’s ANKARA (AP) — After last month’s deadly earthquake, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially set the country’s parliamentary and presidential elections for May 14 on Friday. Erdogan is vying to extend his 20 years in office.
The vote in the elections may be the most important one for the nation in many years. It will determine whether the nation moves toward democracy or stays on the strongman politician’s increasingly authoritarian route.
Although having ruled Turkiye since 2003, first as prime minister and then as president since 2014, Erdogan may face his toughest electoral challenge this year.The economy of the nation is in disarray, inflation is out of control, and the country is still dealing with the effects of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 46,000 people and caused hundreds of thousands of people in 11 Turkish provinces to seek temporary shelter in tents.
Several have criticized his government’s response to the earthquake and charged that it did not adequately prepare the seismically active nation for an impending tragedy.
The failure to enforce building rules, according to experts, was a major factor in the earthquake’s high death toll.
The disjointed opposition groups in Turkiye, which include nationalists, Islamists, and conservatives, put an end to a month of uncertainty earlier this week by endorsing a joint candidate to challenge Erdogan.The six opposition parties came together under Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the 74-year-old head of the center-left, secular Republican People’s Party, or CHP, with a commitment to stop the erosion of rights and freedoms.
Erdogan signed a resolution confirming the election date, which was later published in the Official Gazette. “May our choice to renew the elections be advantageous for our country, our nation, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and our political parties,” Erdogan stated.
The election schedule will now be decided by the Supreme Electoral Council. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff presidential election will take conducted on May 28.
