ANKARA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called snap electionsin Turkey for June 24, bringing the polls forward by over a year-and-a-halfafter a call from his main nationalist ally.
Both presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on the same day.They had originally been scheduled for November 3, 2019.
Erdogan made the announcement in an address at his presidential palaceafter meeting Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli who theday earlier had urged early elections.
“As result of consultations with Mr Bahceli, we decided to hold electionson June 24, 2018, a Sunday,” said Erdogan.
Bahceli stunned Turkish political observers on Tuesday when he urged thegovernment not to wait for November 2019 to hold the presidential andparliamentary elections.
Bahceli told MHP lawmakers that the elections should in fact be held onAugust 26, 2018.
But the date announced by Erdogan is even earlier and will precipitate anintense and hurried election campaign as opposition parties seek tochallenge the Turkish strongman.
The MHP chief´s intervention surprised commentators since the governmentled by Erdogan has repeatedly insisted there will be no early elections.
Bahceli met Erdogan earlier at the presidential palace to discuss theproposal in an eagerly-awaited meeting that lasted only half an hour, thepresidency said.
In a highly unusual move, Erdogan then made his statement in person at thepalace, standing in front of a row of Turkish flags.
– Kingmaker Bahceli –
The elections are significant as a new executive presidency — agreed in a2017 referendum and denounced by the opposition as giving the head of stateauthoritarian powers — will come into force.
The polls will also give Erdogan a chance to extend his stay in power witha new-five year mandate, after already serving 15 years in power as premierand then president.
Erdogan has established a formal alliance with the MHP to fight theelections, making it hard for his party to dismiss Bahceli´s call out ofhand.
MHP leader since 1997, Bahceli is seen as a kingmaker in Turkish politicsand has played a role in some key moments of its modern history.
He prompted the 2002 snap polls that brought Erdogan´s Justice andDevelopment Party (AKP) to power. The AKP has ruled Turkey ever since.
Bahceli, who has led the MHP since 1997, used to be an outspoken critic ofErdogan but has closely aligned with the president since the July 2016failed coup aimed at ousting him from power.
Analysts had said that the state of the Turkish economy could have temptedthe government to consider the early election call and hold polls beforethere is any serious deterioration.
While growth in Turkey was 7.4 percent in 2017, double-digit inflation, awide current account deficit and the need for debt restructuring at topcompanies could be harbingers of trouble ahead.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People´sParty, said Tuesday he welcomed the prospect of early polls. “And we willsend them (the AKP) out,” he said. – APP /AFP