Opposition starts discussing candidate as Erdoğan says elections may be brought forward

Six opposition leaders held the 10th of their roundtable meetings yesterday (January 5) at the Future (Gelecek) Party headquarters in Ankara, the capital.

In a written statement issued after the nine-hour meeting, the leaders said, "We have decided to start consultations regarding the determination of the candidate."

The six leaders, known as the "Table of Six," have so far avoided declaring a candidate and rather focused on a roadmap to the return to a parliamentary system if and when they win the elections.

As part of these efforts, the Table of Six will on January 30 release the "Transition Period Roadmap and Common Policies Document," the statement also said.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is widely expected to become the opposition's joint candidate, especially after the prison sentence and political ban given last month to İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, also a CHP member.

Snap elections

About a possible snap election, the leaders said they would only accept it if the elections were brought forward to no later than April 6, when a new election law passed in April 2022 will come into effect.

"We will not allow any early election to be held with the election system that was implemented as a political engineering effort. On the other hand, we are ready to support an early election with the system that was valid during the 2018 elections," they said.

The election law passed in 2021 lowered the election threshold and changed the rules concerning election alliances and how seats should be distributed between parties in what is widely anticipated as the ruling alliance's efforts to gain a slight advantage in the 2023 elections.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday implied that elections scheduled for June 18 might be brought forward.

Addressing his party's provincial chairs in Ankara, Erdoğan said "You all know the importance of the 2023 elections whose date may be updated to be slightly earlier by taking into account the seasonal conditions."

Last week, AKP Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş also said the elections would take place earlier than scheduled.

Currently, the ruling AKP-MHP bloc needs the opposition's support to hold a snap election by the decision of the parliament. The president also has the authority to abolish the parliament for presidential and parliamentary elections to be held. (VK)