A top official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) denied rumors of snap elections and reiterated that elections will be held on the scheduled date. Speaking to Daily Sabah yesterday, the official underlined that general and presidential elections will be held in November 2019. Even though AK Party officials have repeatedly said that snap elections are not on their agenda, speculation does not appear to be ending.
İYİ Party (Good Party) Chairwoman Meral Akşener previously said: "If there would be a snap election, I foresee the date of July 15 2018, as a prediction. I do not have any information regarding the issue, this is a prediction."
According to the Constitution, to implement the changes to elections made in the election law, one year needs to pass after they were first ratified. In case of a snap election before completing that year, a constitutional change is required to enable the implementation of the alliance's regulations in the elections. As a constitutional change is required to implement the new regulations for elections without waiting for a year, officials see a snap election as unlikely.
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım recently reiterated the AK Party's line on the rumors. "I am clearly saying it once again. There is no election in our agenda. Local elections are in March 2019, and general elections are in November 2019. The presidential election will also be held in November 2019. As you know, according to the changes made to the Constitution, the parliamentary election and presidential election will be held on the same day with different ballot boxes," Yıldırım said.
Following the Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) decision to support the AK Party in the presidential election and form an alliance, the heads of the two parties agreed on changes to be made to the constitution to provide a legal basis for the alliance. The necessary changes to the Political Parties and Elections Law will be made as decided.
MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli said that the reason for his decision to support the AK Party in the 2019 elections is that there is an increasing need for unity to face the growing challenges in the country. The alliance between the two parties has been called a "national agreement."
