A colorful test of democracy

It was natural for me to expect the announcement of the list of AKP candidates for parliament before the other parties (if I didn't expect, I would be considered not to have watched 30 years of Turkish political life from the inside). What tactics the 21-year ruling party leader and the head of state will use in this election became known as soon as the lists were announced. We write:

• 1) Entering the most difficult election of his political life, AKP leader and head of state Erdoğan announced about 2 weeks ago that he nominated all the ministers to be MPs (the Minister of Health and the Minister of Culture and Tourism did not accept to be MPs). This step means trying to hit more than two birds with one stone. Because the participation of ministers in election campaigning means unlimited use of the state's resources (until the last 20 years, such things were not allowed). Both in the regions where the earthquake occurred and where there are many voters of Kurdish origin, the fact that the ministers will face the citizens at any time will give an advantage to the AKP. The main goal of the candidacy of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Süleyman Soylu, from Istanbul is to strengthen the dialogue with voters of Kurdish origin, whose number is increasing every day, and whose influence on politics is increasing and even playing a decisive role in this metropolis.

• 2) According to the AKP Regulations, MPs who had to take a break for 1 call after being elected for 3 calls were not included in the list, despite all insistences and comradeship from the past. We will see how effective this will be on the results of the election on May 14 at 20:00. In my opinion, it will be effective.

• 3) Mr. Erdoğan, who did not break the tactics he has implemented since the AKP entered the political scene, again nominated the famous people of the tribes in the East and South-East regions: most of the names on the AKP list are familiar names. Maybe it's because he compiled a list of candidates for the parliament last time. I thought it was an example of loyalty that Mr. Erdoğan wrote the name of Mervan Gül first in the list of candidates for deputy from Siirt province. Let me explain the reason: due to being politically banned, Erdoğan could not participate in the November 3, 2002, election. The court canceled the ban on Erdoğan by accepting an amendment to the law submitted by the main opposition leader Deniz Baykal to the parliament. Mervan Gül, who was elected from the first row on November 3, did not participate in the election again, as the High Election Council annulled the results of the election in Siirt province in December; thus, Erdoğan, who entered the election from the first row, was elected as the MP. After Prime Minister Abdullah Gül resigned, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer gave Erdoğan the task of establishing a new government on March 10, 2003. That's why the fact that Mervan Gül is the candidate for deputy after 21 years shows that the sense of loyalty in politics is not always dead.

• 4) There is no other explanation for this, the AKP, which needs more support in this election, ignored all criticisms and will try to get the support of the Kurdish voters in Istanbul by nominating the person at the head of the ultra-radical party from there. The leader of Huda Par will have a mandate but I don't think it will be able to increase the rating of AKP.

According to the agreement of Kılıçdaroğlu and Akşener, while the candidates of 4 of the 5 opposition parties united around the main opposition were nominated from the list of CHP, only one candidate will be nominated and that candidate will be supported in places where one of these two parties is strong. The Republican People's Party (CHP) hopes to get the support of voters of Kurdish origin, especially in Istanbul, on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, and of course in the South-Eastern regions. As we have written several times since the autumn of last year that voters of Kurdish origin have become a lock in the country's politics, we are not surprised that the processes have reached that point now. The method of nominating candidates for deputies of the Nation Alliance created by the opposition parties is not worth dwelling on because it does not differ from that of the government: the difference is that the opposition will not be able to use the opportunities of the state.

As the most important elections for the parties in the 100-year history of the Republic of Turkey are approaching, it has been decided that the candidates of 26 parties will fight for the parliamentary mandate. The fact that the Nationalist Movement Party, which has unconditionally supported the AKP and President Erdoğan since 2016, entered the parliamentary elections with its own emblem and not with the People’s Alliance has revealed the possibility of turning the arithmetic in the parliament against the AKP.

The opposition forces have started the election campaign in several alliances. Among them, the alliances that defend labor of the worker and peasant, equality, and the principle of the brotherhood of peoples have brought a very different dynamism to the country's politics after a long time. Among the candidates of the parties included in these alliances are artists, writers, and journalists, who are loved by the society, as well as workers and peasants who are not typical for Turkish politics. We covered an action of one of them 3 weeks ago in the Turan News Agency: Cemal Bilgin, the first candidate for deputy from Yozgat province of the Greens and Left Future Party in this election. 

On the eve of its 100th birthday, the Republic of Turkey is preparing for a decisive democratic test...