Türkiye's opposition bloc set to announce Erdoğan rival
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The alliance of six opposition parties, also known as the "Table of Six" or the "Nation's Alliance," have "reached a common understanding" about who will be the rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Leaders of the parties convened today (March 2) at the headquarters of the Felicity (Saadet) Party in Ankara, the capital, for their 12th round table meeting.
In a joint statement after the meeting that took more than eight hours, the leaders said the candidate is to be declared to the public on March 6.
Temel Karamollaoğlu, leader of the Felicity Party, told TV100 on Sunday that they would be discussing three potential candidates, all of whom are members of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) — Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
Over the weekend, the CHP convened its parliamentary group and party assembly separately. After the meetings, the party decided that Kılıçdaroğlu was given the authority to determine the party's preferred candidate.
The presidential and parliamentary elections are formally scheduled for June 18. However, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been expressing his intentions to bring elections forward to May 14. The elections are widely anticipated to be the most challenging ones for Erdoğan during his two-decade rule.
The Table of SixThe six-party bloc comprises the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the İYİ (Good) Party, the Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party, the Gelecek (Future) Party, the Saadet (Felicity) Party and the Democratic Party (DP). Leaders of the parties had their first round table meeting on February 22, 2022, to address the country's problems and discuss solutions. On February 28, they signed a memorandum of understanding to switch to what they called an "enforced parliamentary system" after the elections. Such a change would require the opposition bloc to have a three-fifth majority in the parliament, which is not likely according to election polls. The DEVA Party, led by former deputy PM Ali Babacan, and the Gelecek Party, led by former PM Ahmet Davutoğlu, are the two splinter movements from the Justice and Development Party (AKP). The Saadet Party also shares the same Islamic roots with the AKP, which has been in power for over 20 years. The four parties other than the CHP and the İYİ Party have no significant popular support, with their voting rates below 3 percent, according to most election polls. However, their support may prove crucial in what is anticipated to be a close race. |
(AÖ/VK)