President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Thursday said that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) would reveal the name of its candidate for Istanbul for the upcoming municipal elections on Jan.7, Sunday.
Speaking to reporters before he entered the party's headquarters in the capital Ankara for a meeting, Erdoğan said the candidate for Ankara would also be disclosed soon.
Earlier, the party's spokesperson Ömer Çelik announced that the names of candidates for some municipalities would be declared on Sunday.
An event will be held at Istanbul’s Haliç Congress Center to unveil the candidates for March’s municipality elections in 81 provinces.
Speaking to reporters outside the party’s headquarters in the capital Ankara, Çelik, who also serves as deputy chair of the party, said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was working with the party’s administration to pick the candidates.
“At this point, we are gradually determining the names of the candidates, after a process of opinion polls, polls among (party’s members) and meetings,” he said. On the election manifesto, he stated it would concentrate on the “AK Party tradition” of better governance of municipalities in the past and “a discourse catering to the needs of today,” along with projects.
On questions about the party’s alliance for the elections, he said talks were still underway with other parties and they would make a statement about it once the negotiations are concluded.
The official process for the elections began earlier this month, as political parties will start listing their candidates.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Election Council (YSK) announced the names of 36 eligible political parties. On Jan. 17, the final voter list will be determined. It is also the last day for people with special assistance to apply for a mobile ballot to be brought to their residence. On Jan. 27, the YSK will have a draw to determine the spots for each political party on the ballot box. Jan. 31 will be the last day for political parties to submit their candidacy lists to the relevant authorities.
On Feb. 7, the YSK will start assigning voters with ballot boxes and will finish this process by Feb. 11. Five days later, local election boards will start necessary preliminary preparations to print the ballots. The temporary candidate lists will be announced on Feb. 23 and the final candidate lists will be announced on March 3. On March 21, the YSK will ban election propaganda, which will end on March 30.
Voters will head to the ballot boxes on March 31 to elect mayors, district mayors and local headmen called mukhtars in villages and neighborhoods.
AK Party looks to recapture key cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which boasted an unprecedented win in two cities after the 2019 elections.
CHP recently finalized its mayoral candidates for 227 electoral districts, including four metropolitan cities. The decision, made at the party assembly, sees the re-nomination of Ekrem Imamoğlu in Istanbul and Mansur Yavaş in the capital of Ankara.
