How the presidential candidate will be determined and how the voting will be done was not discussed at the six-party coalition because "it is not on our agenda," the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on Monday.
Speaking to media representatives, Kılıçdaroğlu said that it was not President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pressuring the opposition to announce a presidential candidate but the media.
“If the six leaders talk about the presidential candidate without talking about what to do and how, there will be too many voices,” he said.
The presidential candidate of the six-party opposition will be announced after the date and decision for elections have become concrete, Kılıçdaroğlu said recently.
As the year 2022 ends, the six-party opposition coalition failed to announce a candidate for the upcoming 2023 elections.
The next presidential and parliamentary elections in Türkiye are expected to be held in June 2023. The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) are partners under the People's Alliance, with Erdoğan serving as the alliance's candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.
One of the central promises of the opposition, formed by the CHP, the Felicity Party (SP), the Good Party (IP), the Future Party (GP), the Democrat Party (DP) and the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), is a return to a “strengthened parliamentary system” if elected.
The proposed system also limits the president to a single seven-year term, requires that the president sever their ties to political parties, and prohibits them from joining a political party after their time.
It has been nearly five years since Türkiye switched from a parliamentary system to the current presidential one after most Turkish voters opted to create the new system. Turkish voters narrowly endorsed an executive presidency on April 16, 2017, with a referendum of 51.4% votes in favor. The official transition to the new system occurred when Erdoğan was sworn in as the president in Parliament after the 2018 general elections, which he won by a majority of 52.6% votes.
