The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is set to embark on a new program entitled "We are Listening to Türkiye" following the major setbacks in the March 31 local elections.
The party, which has dominated Turkish politics for more than two decades, suffered from its first defeat in a municipal vote against the chronic loser Republican People's Party (CHP). Party Chair President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pledged that they would engage in self-criticism in his first speech after the unofficial results of the elections were announced.
The AK Party will now investigate what caused the losses, especially in its strongholds, which suffered a drop in votes despite victories. The program will also delve into the causes of losses in cities where the main opposition CHP lost mayoral seats.
Erdoğan has reportedly told the party that vote losses cannot be confined to a single cause and they had to examine any shortcomings, "deliberate failures and betrayal."
"We Are Listening To Türkiye" will help the party draft a new roadmap for the next elections and involve establishing committees to analyze the election results. Incumbent and former lawmakers, party members, and members of the central administrative committee will be tasked with preparing reports after meeting certain groups of voters who contributed to the party's victory and defeat in municipalities.
The program will also focus on constituencies with a high number of pensioners and cities with a sizable proportion of senior citizens. Political pundits say pensioners might have played a role in the defeat, citing the heightened cost of living. The party will also check the changing preferences of AK Party voters who voted for other parties in municipal elections. Different working groups established by the party will focus on the voting preferences of the youth, women and pensioners.
According to unofficial results from the Supreme Election Board (YSK), the CHP won an election for the first time in four decades on March 31, taking 35 mayoral seats, including 14 metropolitan municipalities like Istanbul and Ankara, while the AK Party won 24 cities, the Green Left Party (YSP) took 10, the MHP eight, the New Welfare Party (YRP) two, and the Great Union Party (BBP) and the Good Party (IP) one each.
Turnout was particularly low for the local vote, down by almost 5 million people to 78.5% from 84.7% in 2019 and 86.9% in the 2023 elections. Preliminary research from the parties has shown that "economic conditions, fatigue from back-to-back elections and dissatisfaction with mayoral candidates" were the main causes of voter abstention.
In his first postelection speech at the party's headquarters in the capital Ankara on April 1, Erdoğan stated that the nation exhibited its will in the ballots without encountering any restraints and that it was a major gain for Turkish democracy. "The victor of this election is democracy, the nation's will, regardless of political views of the electorate," he said. "Thanks to the common sense of our citizens, Turkish democracy proved its maturity again. Elections are the most critical days of democracies and people voice their choice through ballots," he said. The president termed March 31 as "a turning point, not an end." "The Turkish nation gave its message to the politicians. The winner of this election is Türkiye as a whole. The winner is democracy. We paid a high price for its sake," he said. His speech focused on the "embrace" of the nation as he thanked the citizens regardless of their political views. "I hope the results will be for the good of the cities," he said.
Erdoğan, on the other hand, admitted that they could not achieve the desired result, especially nine months after the general and legislative elections, in which the AK Party emerged as the winner. "We worked intensely for the election. AK Party staff worked day and night, in harmony, with self-sacrifice," said Erdoğan, who toured 52 cities on the campaign trail over the past two months. He repeated his motto, "There is a fate above fate," adding: "We will not disrespect our nation's will. We will not be stubborn. We will weigh the steps in an unbiased way. Ending this election is a gain for us. We have four years ahead. We are aware of our responsibilities. We will now work on resolving urgent issues, from the recovery of earthquake-hit region to economic issues," he stated. The president highlighted that they would steer away from "populist" steps that would harm the nation and future generations. He repeated his earlier pledges on recovery of the economy and "dealing the fatal blow to the terrorist organization," about the PKK.
