The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has entered a new era in its policies and strategies as party chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered the AK Party administration to closely monitor municipalities in the new period. The great change and revision has begun as Erdoğan ordered the application of the reform model to municipalities, which he applied to the İstanbul Municipality as mayor of the city in 1994. The AK Party will initially request a detailed report from mayors of AK Party municipalities and then will create a "report card" on municipalities according to whether or not they have fulfilled their election pledges.

A transformation in local AK Party administrations was signaled at the AK Party's extraordinary congress held last month as President Erdoğan promised that there would be a reshuffle in local administrations by the end of the year. The newly elected chairman insured that this congress would mark the birth of a new era for the AK Party. Erdoğan has repeatedly underlined that the party will undergo a reform process in the near future. The AK Party headquarters will establish groups to closely monitor municipalities on the ground. In each AK Party municipality visited by the group created by party headquarters, group members will ask locals if they have any complaints or requests of services from the municipality. In addition to locals, the AK Party headquarters' group will speak to nongovernmental organization representatives and get their feedback on municipalities or districts.As a result of this close monitoring, AK Party headquarters will create a report to determine candidacy nominations for the 2019 local elections.

Speaking to the Sabah daily, Erol Kaya, deputy AK Party chairman responsible for local administrations, said that they had begun their work for the 2019 local elections. "First of all, as our president requested, we will establish a six-month working calendar. When AK Party municipalities are compared to other municipalities in Turkey, they are exceptionally good. We have no issues in terms of physical reform. We will also devote efforts to further enhance our human relations. We must revive cities under local administrations, we must embrace society and reach the hearts of citizens through our 1994 spirit," Kaya said. He stressed that municipalities must be transparent.