An alliance of six Turkish opposition parties has agreed on a common candidate for May’s presidential election. The alliance is sending the leader of the largest opposition CHP party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, into a race against incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as Saadet party leader Temel Karamollaoglu announced late on Monday in Ankara. Polls point to a tight election result.
“Kemal Kilicdaroglu is our presidential candidate,” announced Karamollaoglu in the presence of the leaders of the other five parties, including Kilicdaroglu. “We would have been eliminated if we split up,” Kilicdaroglu, 68, told fans in Ankara after the announcement. He promised to lead the country “on the basis of consultation and concessions” in the event of an election victory against Erdogan. “Law and justice will prevail,” he added.
Alliance failed to reach agreement on candidates for a long time
The alliance had not been able to agree on a common candidate for a long time; in recent days, there have even been hints of a collapse of the alliance. Five parties wanted to send Kilicdaroglu into the race against Erdogan. The leader of the nationalist Iyi party, Meral Aksener, on the other hand, favored the mayors of the metropolises of Istanbul and Ankara, Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas, who also belong to the social democratic CHP.
The two mayors declared at the end of the week that they support the party leader’s candidacy. Imamoglu and Yavas then met with Aksener on Monday to persuade her to continue supporting the six-party opposition coalition.
Election will be on May 14
Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections are set for May 14 – a good three months after the devastating earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area that killed more than 45,000 in Turkey alone. Erdogan is seeking another term. The opposition accuses him, among other things, of not having adequately prepared the country for earthquakes. A breakup of the opposition alliance would have played into Erdogan’s hands.
Even before the earthquake catastrophe, the president, who has been in charge of the country for 20 years, had to deal with a series of crises at the same time. His economic policy triggered an inflationary spiral that caused prices to rise 85% last year. In addition, his government is fighting accusations of friendship and corruption.