Erdogan and his opponents in a political boxing match in the election arena
Turkey is preparing for local elections at the end of March, which are of great importance to all Turkish political parties. For the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), local elections are an opportunity to strengthen its power and block all opposition parties from playing any political role. It is noteworthy that the People's Alliance, made up of the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has a parliamentary majority in the Turkish parliament and its candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the presidential election last year.
Utmost importance
The parliamentary elections are of great importance during this period, as they are the first local elections to take place after the regime transformed into a presidential one. The opposition, led by the People's Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP), seek to achieve any political victory to give them the ability to compete with the AKP and prove their presence on the political street. These elections constitute a new mechanism for the opposition forces to address the people with regard to their damaged services following the decline of the lira to the dollar. Large gains for the opposition in these elections will increase their chances of achieving a historic victory against the AKP in the next parliamentary and presidential elections in four years.
Parties participating in the elections
Twelve political parties are participating in the local elections, most notably the AKP, the CHP, the MHP, the Kurdish HDP, the Islamist Felicity Party, the Independent Turkey Party (BTP) and the Great Unity Party (BBP).
The Turkish Communist Party and the Left Party are very interested in these elections, believing that they may be the gateway to a return to public political action once again. Meanwhile, the National Party, which splintered from the MHP because of the latter’s alliance with the AKP, aspires to achieve a victory that would push it to the front of parties representing nationalists angered with the MHP. In the same vein, the İyi Party, a new Turkish party aligned with the opposition, is trying to achieve any political victory and overcome its numerous electoral failures since its emergence.
Electoral alliances and various messages
These parties have formed two major electoral alliances. The first is led by the AKP under the name of the People's Alliance, while the other is led by the secular CHP with the İyi Party under the name of the Nation Alliance.
Unlike the rhetoric usually adopted by parties in local elections, which are generally focused on citizen-related services, the rhetoric witnessed in the current elections is loaded with partisanship and each party differs in its employment of the surrounding political events in context of the elections. For example, the People's Alliance focuses on the idea of a strong Turkey in reference to the dangers surrounding the country. This is consistent with the AKP’s presentation of itself as the party defending Turkish interests and resisting the Western behavior that is approved by the Nation Alliance led by the secular CHP. Therefore, security and the war in Syria against the Kurds occupy a large part of the AKP’s discourse at the expense of services.
The alliances’ rhetoric regarding services has been involved in a number of points, including the establishment of smart cities that provide service technology. In addition, the AKP has focused on the idea of values, promoting the idea of cities that create cultural values and preserve Turkish heritage, while the CHP has promoted the idea of cities that create happiness for Turks, without specifying clear mechanisms for doing so.
In the end, the political discourse will certainly have a role in influencing the direction of Turkish voters, who feel a security threat from neighboring countries, especially Syria and Iraq, as well as the political crises that Turkey is experiencing with many countries around the world, especially in Europe.
