The victor of the March 30 local polls, the AK Party, is complaining about a lack of discussion over elections results. I believe they are not entirely wrong. This is because the current agenda has focused on the presidential elections in August even before the vote counting is over.
President Abdullah Gül was the first person discussing presidential elections. Leaving questions unanswered, Gül finally said, "It is time to talk about the presidential elections.
I am going to talk with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on this issue." Not long after, the first bilateral meeting took place last Thursday.
No public statement about the meeting were issued, however, recent statements and backstage information suggests that the AK Party candidate will be Erdoğan. Following the Dec. 17 operation, the local race was turned into a vote of confidence for the AK Party, which won 45 percent. Erdoğan's supporters therefore implied that they would like to see him as the president. In addition to that, the AK Party's administrative organization supports the candidacy of Erdoğan, which is clearly understood from official statements.
Erdoğan seems to have made his decision on running for president. He gave the first signal a few days ago when he answer the question "What kind of a president would you become?" Erdoğan said, "I would be a president who rushes and one who makes the people rush." This statement has been interpreted as "Erdoğan described himself as president."
These discussions are one side of the coin. The other side is related to Erdoğan's opposition rivals. If each opposition party presents their own candidate, they will not have much chance against a leader supported by almost 50 percent of Turkey. Depending on the candidates, Erdoğan may announce his presidency at the end of the first round on Aug. 10. The opposition does not want to experience this. The leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu stated that there should be a common opposition candidate. According to some unofficial sources, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) does not want to be mentioned with the CHP and is not in favor of suggesting a common candidate.
There is another interesting point in Kılıçdaroğlu's statement on presidential elections. He explained what kind of a president the CHP is expecting. "As I said before, political identity should not belong to any political party. The president should be a civilian who is aware of world powers and has received good education," said Kılıçdaroğlu.
The statement could mean that the CHP's candidate will likely not be selected among party members. The CHP appears to recognize that a politician identified with the CHP will be hard to get elected as president.
Now, the question is "who will be the outside candidate of the opposition?" There are different names mentioned among CHP members behind closed doors, including the head of the Constitutional Court Haşim Kılıç, who is said to be leaning toward politics with his recent political decisions, MHP politician Meral Akşener who may address the nationalist conservatives, businesswoman Ümit Boyner and former politician Kemal Derviş.
I believe the opposition and senior judges turning their heads to politics along with other actors have made an important wrong calculation. They behave as if the presidential election system was not changed. They think that if the opposition makes a deal to present one candidate, people will accept. This strategy was useful when the Grand National Assembly (TBMM) used to elect the president.
For this reason, there is no need to present a candidate with a political background and talent. The presidential did not use to take into consideration social concerns, but intrastate powers.
The opposition is required to reconsider its strategy to find a candidate. The traditional strategies used in previous systems will not work. Do you think that a candidate, as Kılıçdaroğlu searches, without political identity and lack of political knowledge will be appreciated by the people? Would it be possible to see another president similar to Sezer win at the polls? The opposition needs to delve into this issue while competing with Erdoğan.
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