AKP Raises Extraordinary Objection to Local Election Results in Büyükçekmece, İstanbul

* Photograph: Binnur Ege Gürün - Ankara / AA

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The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has submitted a petition of extraordinary objection to the İstanbul Provincial Election Council, requesting that local elections be cancelled and re-elections be held in the district of Büyükçekemce in İstanbul.

'Extraordinary objection', which can also be termed 'exceptional objection', refers to the right of objection that can be raised in seven days after a mayor receives her or his certificate of election.

Hasan Akgün, who has been elected the Mayor of Büyükçekmece in March 31 Local Elections, received his certificate of election three days ago. Candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Akgün has been elected with 72 thousand 853 votes (50.34 percent).

AKP requests cancellation of certificate of election

In its petition of extraordinary objection, the AKP has demanded that the certificate of election of Hasan Akgün be cancelled and registrations of voters who were unlawfully registered be frozen.

Making a statement regarding the issue, AKP İstanbul Provincial Chair Bayram Şenocak has stated that in their petition, they have demanded that the elections of İstanbul Metropolitan Mayorship, District Mayorship and District Municipal Council be cancelled in Büyükçekmece.

What happened?

According to the unofficial results of the March 31 Local Elections, Hasan Akgün, the candidate of the main opposition CHP for Mayorship of Büyükçekmece, has received 72 thousand 853 votes while Mevlüt Uysal, the candidate of the ruling AKP, has received 68 thousand 671 votes, which accounts for a margin of 4 thousand 182 votes.

The total number of registered voters in the district is 174 thousand 661.

The AKP District Organization previously appealed to the İstanbul Provincial Election Council, requesting that the elections be cancelled on the ground of unlawful voter registration. The objection of the party was rejected on April 5.

Speaking regarding the issue, Ali İhsan Yavuz, the Vice Chair of the AKP responsible for Electoral Affairs, alleged that the residential addresses of 11 thousand 186 people who previously did not live in Büyükçekmece were moved to the district in the pre-election period.

Yavuz claimed that kindergartens, lorry garages, empty fields and construction sites were registered as their residential addresses.

Upon these allegations, police officers have launched an examination in the addresses in question to check whether the people registered in these places actually live there or not.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), no operation has been conducted and no one has been taken into custody.

In response, Faik Öztrak, the Spokesperson of the CHP, stated that the party itself objected to 767 people and their voter registrations were cancelled upon the objection of the CHP. (AS/SD)