Justified Ruling Completed by Supreme Election Council, Dissenting Opinions Awaited

Click to read the article in Turkish

The Supreme Election Council (YSK) has announced that it has completed writing the justified ruling on the annulment of Metropolitan Mayoral elections in İstanbul, where the Nation Alliance's candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) won the March 31 local elections according to unofficial results.

It has been reported that the over-200-page justified ruling will be shared with the public after the dissenting opinions are written. It is expected that the ruling will be announced in two days.

The YSK ruled for annulment of İstanbul elections by a vote of seven against four. Evaluating the objections of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in its meeting on May 6, the Council annulled the Metropolitan Mayoral elections in İstanbul on the ground that the balloting committees were formed in an unlawful manner by the district election councils, which influenced the election results. That being the case, İmamoğlu's certificate of election has also been revoked.

First statement by the CHP

The first response of the CHP to the 200-page justified ruling has come from the party spokesperson Faik Öztrak. Making a statement for the press at CHP Central Office in Ankara, he has said,

"It is at the ballot boxes where the votes are protected. It is the case in all previous verdicts of the YSK. The Council will also explain why it has countered its former practices in this justified ruling, I suppose."

Referring to a proverb in Turkish, "Who steals the minaret will have a cover ready", which means the devil looks after his own, Öztrak has continued as follows: "Apparently, a 200-page justified ruling has barely sufficed to cover the stolen minaret. In fact, it will be seen by our whole nation that the verdict in question is a political one. If the YSK does not do them, then it will be understood that the verdict is not legal, but political." (HA/SD)