Having refreshed its ranks under reelected chairperson and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is stepping up preparations for the upcoming local elections in Türkiye.

The party has officially kicked off its electoral marathon at Saturday’s congress, where the Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) was revised with new and young members.

The AK Party, which focuses on rejuvenation, is expected to prepare for local elections with a renewed, experienced and vigorous cadre.

Erdoğan reportedly ordered his new team to "knock on every door and conquer every heart" as the party drew its roadmap to March 31, 2024 polls when some 64 million eligible voters are due to vote for new mayors and other office-holders in 81 provinces of Türkiye, nearly a year after general elections in May this year.

The AK Party is looking to run joint mayoral candidates with its People’s Alliance partner, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in all 81 provinces, party officials have revealed.

The applications for candidates and the subsequent vetting process will begin next month and will be conducted digitally. The party said it is employing an online system to ensure quick ballot results and prevent any losses, leakage as well as paper waste.

The AK Party has been working to rekindle lost support in all constituencies but especially Istanbul, which, politically, is seen as the most important administrative region in Türkiye and carries symbolic significance for Erdoğan since his time as mayor served as a launchpad for the foundation of the AK Party in 2001 and the party's subsequent election in 2003.

In the 2019 local elections, the party lost control of Istanbul and Ankara for the first time in 25 years and five of Türkiye’s largest cities to the rival Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Since the general elections in May, the AK Party has been conducting voter satisfaction surveys and tallying up the "shortcomings" of its opponents. It has also launched a comprehensive field effort to draft election declarations suitable for the needs, demands and deficits of the local fabric of each of the 81 provinces before next year’s race.

CHP convenes in Istanbul

Meanwhile, in the opposition camp, the CHP convened for its last provincial congress in Istanbul to choose delegates, some 196 members, to help elect a new chair and charter for the troubled party at next month’s 57th congress.

The assembly marked the deepening divide between incumbent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s supporters and critics who have been locking horns over a long-awaited change since the May general polls defeat and once again came close to blows on Sunday after a verbal spat during voting.

Özgür Çelik, a self-proclaimed "reformist," and Cemal Canpolat, who has fully endorsed Kılıçdaroğlu in the schism, are competing for the CHP’s Istanbul office. Both groups have been working to drum up support for their cause for months.

Sources close to the party argued the result of the congress could directly impact the upcoming congress since the highest number of delegates are emerging out of Istanbul.

Delegates are to choose between Kılıçdaroğlu and three other contenders in November.

Kılıçdaroğlu has been holding the CHP’s reins since 2010, but he is looking at increasingly low odds this year as backlash grows over the party’s electoral strategy failure and Kılıçdaroğlu’s "refusal to take accountability" and resign after May.

Özgür Özel, Örsan Kunter Öymen and Ünal Karahasan have so far challenged Kılıçdaroğlu. A candidate needs approval signatures of at least 5% of all elected delegates, meaning 69 members, to be able to officially run for CHP chairpersonship.

Kılıçdaroğlu, who is yet to announce his bid formally, is likely to be nominated by delegates while Özel is said to be the only other candidate close to achieving the required number.

Regardless of his reelection, the opposition’s chances in upcoming polls are dwindling, particularly since their CHP-led Nation Alliance failed to uphold after May.

The CHP’s second-biggest partner, the Good Party (IP), which helped put CHP mayors in Türkiye’s top three cities in 2019, has rebuked any possibility of another alliance while still floating the idea that a "cooperation" could be on the table for mayoral candidates.

Chairperson Meral Akşener’s contradictory policies seem to be taking their toll on party cadres as 57 more members walked out on Sunday protesting "a lack of alliance," namely with the CHP.

Sources have said more resignations could follow, triggering a fresh crisis among members "disgruntled" with Akşener’s decisions.

Pundits also say that without joining forces, especially without the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a party linked to the PKK terrorist group, which enjoys some 10% support nationwide, both parties are looking at grim odds next March.