Erdogan has gained a decisive victory in the Turkish election. Apart from winning the presidential election in a single round with at least 52.5 percent of the votes, his ruling Justice and Development Party also won 42.5 percent of votes in the parliamentary election.
By
MUSTHAFA ABD RAHMAN
·3 minutes read
AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives to deliver a speech on June 24, 2018 in Istanbul, after initial results of Turkey\'s presidential and parliamentary elections. Erdogan on June 24 declared victory in a tightly-contested presidential election, extending his 15-year grip on power in the face of a revitalised opposition. Turkish voters had for the first time cast ballots for both president and parliament in the snap polls, with Erdogan looking for a first round knockout and an overall majority for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
ISTANBUL, KOMPAS – Recep Tayyip Erdogan has gained a decisive victory in the Turkish election. Apart from winning the presidential election in a single round with at least 52.5 percent of the votes, his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) also won 42.5 percent of votes in the parliamentary election.
After the simultaneous presidential and parliamentary election on Sunday (24/6/2018), Turkey enters a new era of a presidential system of government – a switch from the previous parliamentary system.
Erdogan is a President who now has strong executive powers with the authority to issue decrees, appoint ministers, pick a vice president, compile state budgets and determine security policies. The new system will be implemented to fulfill the mandate of the 2017 constitutional referendum.
The Turkish High Election Commission announced Erdogan’s victory on Monday afternoon (25/6) local time. The commission said that it had counted 99.91 percent of votes, and that the final result will be announced in the coming days.
REUTERS/OSMAN ORSAL
People walk past a poster for Turkey\'s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Turkey, June 25, 2018. The poster reads: "Our people won, Turkey won, Thank you Istanbul".
Happy supporters
Thousands of Erdogan and AKP supporters were already celebrating on Sunday night after Erdogan gave an early victory speech. They gathered on the streets of Istanbul to celebrate Erdogan’s victory. The noise of klaxons filled the air.
The Sutluce district, where the AKP headquarters is located, and the Fatih district, its strongest base of supporters, were the centers of the celebration. Traffic heading to the two districts were jammed.
In his victory speech, Erdogan said that he would turn Turkey into one of the world’s 10 largest economies by 2023, the country’s centennial. He said that he would continue the fight against the Kurdish rebels and the Fethullah Gulen movement, which he claimed was behind the 2016 failed coup attempt.
Authoritarian
The Turkish government arrested around 50,000 people and dismissed more than 110,000 civil servants in the so-called state of emergency after the failed coup. The state of emergency still applies today. Unsurprisingly, Erdogan was sharply criticized later for his authoritarian policy. However, his supporters have remained firmly loyal, as they saw Erdogan as championing stability and people’s welfare.
AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN
In this file photograph taken on June 22, 2018, a supporter of the presidential candidate of Turkey\'s main opposition Republican People\'s Party Muharrem Ince waves flags as she walks past election campaign posters for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during an election rally in Ankara.
Erdogan’s strongest rival in the election, Muharrem Ince of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), has conceded defeat. Ince gained 30.7 percent of votes in the election. There were four other presidential hopefuls aside from Erdogan and Ince, including Selahattin Demirtas of the pro-Kurd Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Demirtas is currently behind bars for alleged involvement in terrorism.
“I accept the results of the election. Be a president for all 81 million [of the Turkish people]. Embrace every single one of them,” said Ince. Nevertheless, he warned Erdogan to put an immediate end to his divisive policies.
Before his press conference, Ince asked the crew of state television station TRT to leave the room, criticizing the publicly funded station for unequal coverage of the opposition’s campaigns and for providing more broadcast time to Erdogan compared to the other presidential candidates. Upon Ince’s request, the TRT reporters then left the location of the press conference.
Despite not gaining an absolute majority, the AKP’s 42.5 percent is still deemed enough as its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), gained 11 percent of votes. The election result is enough to secure Erdogan’s position in facing the political dynamics in parliament.
