AK Party campaign for local elections to begin in July
Supporters waving flags in front of AK Party headquarters in Ankara (Sabah File Photo)


The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will reportedly start working for the March 2019 local elections in July as party authorities gathered last week at a two-day-camp to draw a roadmap.According to a report in the Türkiye daily, the AK Party organized a two-day-camp last week to dwell on what steps may be taken and how the campaign for the 2019 local elections will be carried out.At the meetings, previous election campaigns were reviewed and the strategy and roadmap to be followed during the 2019 local elections were discussed. For the local elections in March 2019, it has been suggested to start the work from July this year.President and AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the other hand, told all party fellows to work in line with the needs and requests of the people. The youth and women branches of the party are also expected to play a significant role in the campaigning period.According to the party sources, the president urged the party's women branch to continue carrying out favorable work, adding that the quality of services was as important as the number of services. "Quantity and quality should be merged," Erdoğan previously said.The AK Party values the local elections greatly as it has recently carried out a shake-up with mayors. Some mayors, including the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, stepped down to make way for more enthusiastic and hardworking ones.Also, in order to increase the success of municipalities in the upcoming elections, the AK Party will meticulously examine them to see if promised projects were carried out properly, while also looking at debt, investments, income, city plans and the quality of services.The ruling party has been conducting surveys to determine what the citizens demanded from mayors and to provide insight into the people's perception of the municipalities.AK Party officials stressed that the public opinion of the mayors will be taken into consideration and the surveys are expected to play a significant role in determining their candidates for the upcoming elections.Meanwhile, the AK Party is introducing a new system that will allow immediate communication with members of the organization across 81 provinces.Especially the new communication system called "AKSIS," which is planned to be used effectively in the elections, will be installed on mobile phones and computers.Thanks to the new system that only members of the local administration will use, the party management's instructions will reach the whole organization at the same time. It is aimed at eliminating negative situations by mobilizing the whole organization at the same time against the misinformation on social media related to the party, by giving joint messages through the system, especially by way of social media.