President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has never been challenged by such a unified opposition in any election he competed in the past two decades. But the charismatic leader of the Turkish nation who rose from prime minister to the post of the new executive presidency emerged victorious again in his latest battle last Sunday. The opposition bloc, of six parties from vastly different ideologies, now examines what went wrong in a vote they were almost sure to win.
As a new campaign process started for Erdoğan and his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the sides reviewed their strategies and drafted a roadmap for the next two weeks. Erdoğan will adhere to his previous narrative of stability under his successive governments and renew his pledges for a more prosperous Türkiye. The opposition will need more to convince voters for the runoff after Kılıçdaroğlu garnered only 44.8% of the vote share against Erdoğan’s 49.5%. Support for Erdoğan dropped compared to his past election record. However, Kılıçdaroğlu is still far behind despite endorsement by more parties and more segments of the society apart from his Republican People’s Party (CHP).
In damage control mode, the opposition bloc is expected to concentrate its campaign on its opposition to terrorist groups, according to Turkish media reports. Pundits say the support they received from a political party aligned with the terrorist group PKK alienated the conventional electorate of the CHP. Kılıçdaroğlu is also expected to copy Erdoğan and hold public meetings in provinces affected by the Feb. 6 earthquakes in southeastern Türkiye.
Leaders of the six parties, making up the alliance, were scheduled to convene later on Wednesday to discuss the outcome.
