Voters in Turkey went to the polls on Sunday to simultaneously elect a new president and Parliament for the first time in the country’s history, Al Jazeera reported. More than 56 million voters will cast their ballots in more than 1,80,000 ballot boxes across the country.
Turkey has remained under a state of emergency, which allows the government to bypass Parliament, since a section of the military attempted a coup in Istanbul and Capital Ankara in July 2016. The putsch left 161 people dead and 1,440 wounded.
In the presidential election, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing a major challenge from Muharrem Ince of the centre-left Republican People’s Party. The elections were originally scheduled for November 2019 but were advanced by Erdogan.
Both Erdogan and Ince addressed huge rallies on Saturday, the final day of campaigning, reported BBC. Ince, whose campaign has managed to revitalise the Opposition, promised to push back against “the slide into authoritarian rule” under Erdogan.
“If Erdogan wins, your phones will continue to be listened to,” the former high-school teacher said at a rally in Istanbul. “Fear will continue to reign. If Ince wins, the courts will be independent.” Ince said he would lift the state of emergency within 48 hours if elected.
Erdogan, who served as prime minister for 11 years before becoming the president in 2014, accused Ince of lacking the skills to lead the country. “Are we going to give them an Ottoman slap tomorrow?” he asked the crowd at a rally.
“It is one thing to be a physics teacher, it is another thing to run a country,” Erdogan added. “Being president needs experience.”
With these elections, Turkey will transform from a parliamentary democracy into a presidential one as mandated by a constitutional referendum that was passed narrowly last year amid accusations of vote rigging. The new system will abolish the post of prime minister, giving the new president the right to issue decrees and the power to exert greater influence over the judiciary and the civil services.
Eight political parties – Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, Ince’s Republican People’s Party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, the Free Cause (Huda-Par) Party, the Good Party, the Nationalist Movement Party, the Felicity (Saadet) Party and the Patriotic (Vatan) Party – are participating in the parliamentary elections, according to state-run Andolu Agency.
Some of the problems faced by voters include soaring inflation, attacks by Kurdish militants and the jihadists of the Islamic State group, high interest rates, and a falling currency.
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