May 14 will be the most challenging election for Türkiye, ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş said Sunday.
"From an objective point of view, it is Türkiye’s most difficult election. As 50+1% will be necessary due to the nature of the system, a very fierce struggle will be fought," Kurtulmuş said during a televised interview on Kanal 7.
Kurtulmuş underlined that the Turkish people believed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would be a more effective leader in the post-earthquake period.
"Even though the candidate on the other end of the spectrum has been determined, their government formation, going about business is out of the question. In the latest opinion polls we have conducted, our president is ahead," he elaborated.
The presidential and parliamentary votes are set for May 14, three months after powerful earthquakes struck Türkiye’s southeast, killing tens of thousands and leaving millions homeless.
Erdoğan is the candidate of the AK Party-led People’s Alliance, which includes the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Great Unity Party (BBP). At the same time, the New Welfare Party (YRP) agreed to endorse the alliance, and the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR) also announced that their parliamentary candidates would be nominated from AK Party nomination lists.
"It is not surprising that the New Welfare Party joined the People’s Alliance. The main backbone of the People’s Alliance has been shaped around the ideal of a new great Türkiye," Kurtulmuş said.
On the other side, six disparate parties have built an anti-Erdoğan alliance and – after a year-long debate – rallied around the candidacy of secular CHP party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for the May 14 vote.
The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has also given Kılıçdaroğlu its tacit support. Winning over 10% of the vote in the past three national elections, the HDP was widely seen as a kingmaker in the tight race.
The HDP stayed out of the 2019 municipal elections that saw opposition leaders sweep to power in Istanbul and Ankara for the first time since the 1990s.
Saying that the People’s Alliance is an alliance based on principles, Kurtulmuş continued, "Our door is open to those who consider the path to a stable and secure Türkiye as a political choice. An alliance of ideas is more important than parties."
Kurtulmuş said the goal was to make the upcoming 100 years as "the Century of Türkiye."
Commenting on reports that the May 14 elections will be a turning point for Türkiye, he said, "With its achievements in industry, advanced technology, education, foreign policy and national defense industry, Türkiye will either continue its march or turn toward the coalition era."
Kurtulmuş said that a strategic team had worked on the AK Party’s election manifesto for 1.5 years.
Saying that they will put the long-term goals for the "Century of Türkiye" before people instead of daily political debates, Kurtulmuş added that Erdoğan would share the main parameters of the election manifesto at the candidate advocacy meeting.