2023-05-15 04:33:51
Sunday’s ballot is particularly tight in Türkiye. The two contenders for power, outgoing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his opponent, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, both say they are in a position to win. It will perhaps be necessary to wait for a second round on May 28, which seems more and more proven. Indeed, on the evening of an election which saw an unprecedented mobilization of the electorate, the outgoing president claims to be “clearly in the lead”, but ready to “respect” a second round if necessary.
It is not quite a victory, but certainly not a defeat for Erdogan, at the head of the country for twenty years, who declared himself convinced in front of a tide of supporters exulting in the heart of the night “to still serve his country for five years. Same confidence displayed by his rival, who promised his camp that he would “absolutely win in the second round”, arguing “the need for change in society”. The participation rate, it seems close to 90%, has not been officially communicated.
If not Ogan future kingmaker?
This is the first time that the head of state, 69, would be forced to appear a second time before the voters for lack of having gathered 50% of the votes. Facing him, the Social Democrat Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, a 74-year-old former senior civil servant who led an unprecedented coalition of six opposition parties, was regularly given the lead by polling institutes, even by a short head. But according to the results covering 95% of the ballots, he barely totaled 45% of the votes at 3:30 am on Monday according to the official Anadolu agency.
The third candidate, Sinon Ogan, dissident of the nationalist party MHP credited with around 5% of the votes, is preparing to negotiate them without specifying with whom. In the meantime, in the evening, the camps of the two main candidates fought a battle of figures, enjoining their respective observers to stay on the counting sites “until the end”.
The 64 million voters also had to choose the 600 deputies who will sit in the unicameral parliament in Ankara. Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed “half” for his camp.
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