Turkey elections 2023: Key facts and figures for Sunday's crunch vote
MENA
The New Arab Staff
11 May, 2023
Turkey is preparing for upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections this Sunday, which have the potential to mark an end to a two-decade-long era under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a stiff challenge from opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu [Aziz Karimov/Getty]
Turkey is bracing itself for elections on Sunday that could bring an end to 20 years of rule by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The current Turkish president is trying to beat back a challenge from Kemal Kilicdaroglu, from the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Polls this week have projected a narrow win for the 74-year-old opposition candidate.
One other candidate — Sinan Ogan, from the right-wing Ancestral Alliance — is also running for the presidency, but is unlikely to make a considerable enough dent in the vote to impact the two frontrunners. Centrist Muharrem Ince pulled out of the race on Thursday.
If none of the candidates are able to clinch half the vote, a runoff between the two contenders with the most votes will take place two weeks later.
Hotly contested issues include a struggling economy, the presence of millions of refugees in the country, and the lacking response to the earthquake in February that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey alone.
Some 64.2 million people are eligible to vote in the election, according to the Supreme Election Board (YSK). Almost 5 million of them are first-time voters.
Polls are set to open at 08:00 local time (5:00 GMT) on 14 May, and shut at 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT). Results are expected a few hours later.
Elections for the 600-seat parliament take place at the same time as the vote for the president.
Parties need to obtain 7% of votes, either on their own or in alliance with other parties, in order to enter parliament.
Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) is currently the largest party in parliament, with 285 seats. It works in coalition with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has 48 seats, to hold a majority.
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The New Arab Staff & Agencies
11 May, 2023
Muharrem Ince, a secular nationalist, dropped out of the race in the aftermath of an online smear campaign where doctored images of him meeting women and riding in lavish cars spread online.
Many saw Ince as a spoiler candidate who could only help Erdogan secure a third decade of rule [Getty]
Third-party candidate Muharrem Ince on Thursday withdrew from Turkey's tight presidential election in a shock move that raised the chances of an opposition first-round victory.
The 59-year-old announced his decision after being targeted by an online smear campaign that included doctored images of him meeting women and riding around in fancy cars.
The secular nationalist picked up 30.6 percent of the vote when he challenged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2018 presidential polls.
He then quit the main opposition party and launched his own movement that began to pull votes away from secular leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu - the joint candidate of the anti-Erdogan bloc.
"I'm withdrawing my candidacy," Ince told reporters ahead of Sunday's vote.
"I am doing this for my country".
Ince came under ferocious criticism from the opposition for entering the campaign.
Most saw him as a spoiler candidate who could only help Erdogan secure a third decade of rule.
Ince countered that he offered voters a more vibrant alternative to the 74-year-old Kilicdaroglu - a bookish former civil servant, who lost a string of national elections against Erdogan.
Tight race
The last opinion polls showed Kilicdaroglu leading Erdogan by a few percentage points and falling just short of breaking the 50-percent threshold needed for a first-round win.
Ince's popularity has been ebbing away after touching nearly 15 percent.
The latest surveys showed him picking up between two and four percent of the vote.
But that might be enough to put Kilicdaroglu over the top.
The Metropoll survey showed 30.5 percent of Ince's support falling to Kilicdaroglu and 23.4 percent going to Erdogan.
Ince notably did not endorse any candidate after dropping out.
His name will also still appear on the presidential ballot.
A fourth minor candidate - nationalist Sinan Ogan - is believed to be mostly drawing votes away from Erdogan.
"Another crazy day in Turkish politics," emerging markets economist Timothy Ash remarked.
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"Ince withdraws, with the assumption that most of his votes now go to Kilicdaroglu, making it possible/more likely of a (Kilicdaroglu) first round win."
Kilicdaroglu has been appealing for days for Ince to formally back his candidacy.
Erdogan, meanwhile, has been staging daily rallies at which he announced incentives and bonuses to voters aimed at spurring support.
The 69-year-old Turkish leader pledged on Thursday to double the size of a previously promised wage hike for public workers.
The New Arab
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