Erdogan’s fate to be decided in tomorrow’s local elections
Istanbul (AsiaNews ) - Tomorrow nearly 57 million Turkish voters (about 26.7 million women and 25.9 million men) will vote to elect new local administrators.
But these elections are of
increasing national importance because, according to insiders, they will define
the political fate of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
The
vote takes place after the June 2013Gezi Park protest, and especially after the
December 17 and 25, 2013 revelations of corruption scandals and investigations
of judges, leading to charges of aggravated bribery against ministers of the AKP
government and the arrest of three sons of chief ministers. Later,
the son of Erdogan, Bilal, was accused of misappropriation of huge amounts of
dollars.
The Youtube video of the
conversation between Prime Minister Erdogan and his son Bilal, on the
embezzlement of millions of dollars by the latter, has sparked outrage.
Erdogan's
reaction was vehement, ordering the immediate removal of those judges and
police officers not subservient to the central power.
It
also led to his decision to block the use of Twitter and Youtube: they lead to
the misinformation of Turkish public opinion and therefore destabilize the new Turkish
regime, that of Erdogan and his AKP party
Among other things, there has
been an epic clash between Erdogan and Gulen Fetullah, founder of the Islamic
brotherhood Hizmet, very active in the control of the police, the judiciary and
private education. The
premier claims he and his group (termed "the cavern") are behind the revelations
of scandals and messages on Youtube. This
is why the election campaign took place in an inflamed atmosphere similar to
general elections.
At
this point, several questions emerge.
First
of all, what will the outcome of these elections be and how will the average Turkish
voter vote? And
will it really be affected by the scandals or other factors?
And will the AKP maintain its
position or lose ground and if so to what extent?
Who will
win in the big metropolitan municipalities? And
if the AKP loses, what will the political scene in Ankara become?
Reading
the opposition newspapers one has the feeling that, after the scandals, it will
be impossible for the AKP to win the elections. They
maintain that in recent times Erdogan has become very aggressive because he
knows he will lose the election. This
press claims that the question is only on by how great a percentage the AKP will
loose: 5, 10 or 15%?
Press close to the AKP party do not mention the scandals. On the contrary the speak of "parallel structures" , controlled by the Fetullah Gulen's Brotherhood, who conspire against the AKP government. They also laud the economic successes of the government, based on a laissez-faire policy, during these 12 years of continuous government. The majority of them have no doubt that tomorrow the AKP will gain between 45 and 47 % of the vote. Some important public figures consider that the end result will stabilize at about 38 % , as in the last administration in 2009.
The evening of March 30 will
reveal what the average Turkish voter has decided. Erdogan hopes that
his party will be acquitted. He
stated that the issue of the scandals will be resolved by the will of the
people at the polls. The
opposition hopes instead that the Turkish people will use the ballot box to
send a message against the nepotism and authoritarianism of Erdogan and his AKP
party.
In
the search for consensus, yesterday it was reported that 300 thousand other
people are being added to the 1.3 million people who receive an allowance for
poverty, old age and disability benefits. These because they have a minimum
monthly income of 282 pounds Turkish
(about 93.6 EUR ) . Until
now the minimum threshold for the allowance was 124 Turkish lira (about € 41).
Finally,
the void left by the absence of women candidates in tomorrow's elections should
be noted. Only
3.3% of the candidates are women: 1.1 % in the AKP; 4.3% in the CHP and 2.5%
in the MHP.
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13/01/2022 13:39
26/02/2016 09:03
