Party’s defeat in the election is a sign of Erdogan’s new strategy

Last Updated on April 2, 2024 4:14 am

Ekrem Imamogulu has been elected as the mayor of Istanbul, the historical city of Turkey. This means that the rise of the opposition has been quite surprising. Many consider Imamoglu as Erdogan’s future rival. In this situation, the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has promised to bring changes within his party.

He said he would correct the mistakes that led to the defeat of his party, the Justice and Development Party.

According to Turkish media TRT World, Erdogan’s AK Party won only 24 of Turkey’s 82 regions. Most of the rest of the region went to the anti-Erdogan camp. However, the main opposition Republican People’s Party or CHP got 37.76 percent of the votes. And Erdogan’s AK Party got 35.48 percent of the votes.

According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the opposition in this election mainly won the votes of a large part of Turks by presenting Turkey’s economic woes and Islamists as separate. In this situation, Erdogan’s plan to amend the constitution may not be implemented.

Analysts say Sunday’s local election loss is Erdogan’s biggest defeat in 20 years in power. In addition to strengthening the opposition, the election also presented the newly elected mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, as a strong challenger to Erdogan.

Analysts say Turkey’s rising cost of living and inflation near 70 percent have turned voters away from his party.

In this situation, Erdogan’s plan to amend the Turkish constitution may collapse. Erdogan originally wants to bring this amendment to ensure that he remains in power beyond 2028. Although Erdogan and his allies dominate parliament, the rise of opposition at the local level will surely put pressure on constitutional amendments. In particular, if a referendum is to be held to amend the constitution, Erdogan’s wishes may not be met.

Perhaps, after losing this election, Erdogan is signaling a change of strategy to gain the confidence of the voters. And so this is not the end of our journey but a turning point for us, Erdogan said at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara on Monday.

Erdogan said, “If we have made a mistake, we will fix it.” However, Erdogan did not give any guidance on what exactly he wants to amend.