The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Wednesday declared its manifesto for Türkiye’s simultaneous presidential and parliamentary polls on May 14 that would promote natural disaster policies and a new constitution.
The MHP is a stalwart of the People’s Alliance led by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and endorses the candidacy of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, along with three other parties but it fielded its own candidates in legislative votes in the past elections, though their number is small.
It currently has 48 seats in the 600-seat Parliament.
The party’s manifesto, which it will make public this weekend, boasts a “Rising Türkiye” vision and outlines policies on the economy, foreign policy, education, health care, regional development, agriculture, tourism and combating unemployment in the country.
Drafting a new constitution in line with Türkiye’s current presidential system is also a key promise the MHP makes, as well as a modification of the election and political parties law and Parliamentary Regulations.
The party is a strong backer of the presidential system, with officials arguing that it must be maintained and “if it has minor deficiencies, we must repair them.”
The May 14 elections are the first since Türkiye switched from a parliamentary to an executive presidency system after most Turkish voters endorsed the system in a 2017 referendum. The official transition to the new system took place 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.
The MHP reiterates support for the government in its counterterrorism operations, too, and adds new items to policies from previous manifestos concerning natural disasters like earthquakes, wildfires and floods.
It underlines steps to be taken for full recovery from the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes that left at least 50,000 dead in Türkiye’s southeast.
The MHP further extols in a booklet the promises like the EYT problem, an acronym of an arrangement put forward by the AK Party that eliminates an age requirement and offers early retirement to millions of citizens, and tax cuts on minimum wage, that the People’s Alliance made and carried out in the past five years.
Similarly, Erdoğan officially kicked off the AK Party’s election campaign with a large-scale rally on Tuesday where he too emphasized the “Century of Türkiye” vision under the motto “Keep Walking with Right Steps."
