The Good Party announced its entry into the elections alone and as a competitor to everyone in all states, and the Democracy and Progress Party did the same thing. As for the Happiness and Future Parties, they decided to ally together in a unified list. So the Republican People’s Party remains alone, without allies.
These parties were part of the opposition “Nation Alliance”, or what was known as the “Sexa Table”, which was formed from 6 opposition parties in February 2022 to unite behind one candidate in the May 2023 presidential elections in front of the ruling coalition candidate at the time, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan..
But after Erdogan won the presidency again, cracks occurred in the “Umma Alliance.” As a result of ideological differences regarding Turkey’s identity, and to hold the Republican People’s Party, especially its president, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the losing presidential candidate, responsible for losing the elections..
Consecutive decisions
- The head of the Good Party, Meral Akşener, announced on Wednesday, at a meeting of her party group, that the party will field candidates in 81 states in the local elections, adding: “From now on, we do not share anyone’s good deeds or sins… We stand in the balance of the nation with our weight.” According to the Turkish newspaper Bergen.
- These statements come days after the Democracy and Progress Party, headed by Ali Babacan, announced an end to discussions regarding the “alliance in the municipal elections.” In his speech during the founding conference of his party, Babacan said: “Our party decided to enter the elections with its own name, its own slogan, and its own candidates throughout the country.”“.
- The Future and Happiness parties announced that they would enter the elections with a joint list, without alliances.
- Therefore, the Republican People’s Party, the largest opposition party, will enter the elections with its own lists without an alliance with the previous parties.
- The position of the junior partner in the “Nation Alliance”, the Democratic Party, remains unknown, but in any case it does not constitute electoral weight..
Thus, the opposition bloc will be divided into 4 electoral lists instead of coordinating among themselves, as happened in the 2019 elections. At that time, the opposition was able to achieve unexpected results, most notably winning the largest municipalities, which are the cities of Istanbul and Ankara..
Broken alliance
Turkish political analyst, Naser Senki, describes the Umma Alliance as “a thing of the past” since the end of the last presidential and parliamentary elections..
Regarding the chances of these parties after the breakup of their temporary alliance, Turkish political analyst Nasser Sinki told Sky News Arabia that the Republican People’s Party is awaiting internal elections to choose its president, and if the candidate for its presidency, Ozgur Ozal, succeeds, he may re-establish contact with the Umma Alliance parties to restore… alliance; Because the opposition parties know that they will not be able to compete with the ruling coalition in many cities on their own.
He gives an example that the Democracy and Progress Party, headed by Babacan, may have few chances, and in neighborhoods and not cities, and “it is unlikely that it will currently be able to succeed in competing with the large parties.”“.
As for the position of the “Public Alliance” (consisting of the ruling Justice and Development Party, the National Movement Party, and two other small parties), Sinki expects it to have great chances, especially since it is “the winning party in the (last) elections, and this of course gives them more euphoria and strength, as well.” Its two major parties are distinguished by their strength and cohesion“.
Poll
An opinion poll conducted by Genar showed that the Justice and Development Party outperformed the rest of the political parties in voting trends in the local elections..
According to the results of the poll, the ruling party received about 49 percent in voting trends in the state of Istanbul, compared to 42 percent for its closest competitor, the Republican People’s Party. This indicates fierce competition to come.
The ruling party is particularly focused on regaining the major municipalities it lost to the opposition in the 2019 elections, namely Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir..
The Supreme Election Council of Turkey announced, in an official statement published in the Official Gazette, that March 31, 2024 was set as the date for holding local elections.
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