A joint committee of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) wrapped up the work for the March 2024 municipal elections. The two parties, part of the People's Alliance, determined the areas where their alliance could work and decided to support each other in more provinces than they had in the 2019 municipal elections.
Along with 30 metropolitan municipalities, 29 more provincial municipalities were added to the list of constituencies the two parties will endorse each other, according to Turkish media outlets. The parties will field joint candidates in some municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including Ardahan, Artvin, Bilecik, Bolu, Burdur, Çanakkale, Edirne, Kırklareli, Kırşehir and Sinop.
The MHP will support AK Party candidates in provinces hit by Feb. 6 earthquakes in Türkiye’s south, the Sabah newspaper reported.
In the 2019 elections, the MHP supported AK Party candidates in 44 provinces, while the AK Party endorsed the MHP in seven provinces. The two parties fielded joint candidates in 51 provinces in total. This number will be increased to 59 in the March election. In AK Party leader President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s hometown Rize, the MHP will not field a candidate, while the AK Party, in turn, will not nominate a candidate in MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s hometown Osmaniye. Both men enjoy widespread support in their hometowns, leaving a very slim chance of the opposition parties gaining a win.
In municipalities won by the MHP in the 2019 elections, the AK Party decided to endorse its ally's candidates, including Çankırı, Kastamonu, Bartın, Karabük, Kütahya, Amasya, Karaman, Bayburt and Erzincan. The MHP will not field candidates in most eastern provinces and will support the AK Party candidates instead, the Sabah newspaper reported.
The AK Party will also hold talks with the New Welfare Party (YRP) and the Great Union Party (BBP) on a potential election alliance this week, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Sunday. Both parties were part of an election alliance endorsing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in last May’s general elections. They have still not decided on whether to field candidates of their own, though the YRP announced candidates in some provinces and was weighing the option of supporting AK Party candidates in big cities, including Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir.
