2024-08-07 14:24:41
Amidst the escalating controversy over holding early Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections before 2028, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas has revealed for the first time his readiness to run for president in the country’s elections scheduled for 2028.
“Of course, I will bear this burden. I will be a presidential candidate if that is the decision of the CHP,” said Yavas, who has been ranked first in opinion polls in recent months.
“If my party nominates me for the presidency, I will bear this burden, and I will of course be a candidate,” Yavas was quoted as saying by the Millet news agency on Tuesday.
Before running for the second time for the mayor of Ankara in the local elections held on March 31, Yavaş announced that this would be the last time he would run for mayor.
At the same time, the Hurriyet newspaper, which is close to the Turkish government, said that Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu is preparing for the post-Istanbul Municipality phase and his candidacy for the presidency in 2028. It added: “It is said that Imamoglu nominated the mayor of Uskudar (on the Asian side of Istanbul), Sinem Dedetas, to succeed him in the Istanbul Municipality if he secures his candidacy for the presidency.”
Yavaş and İmamoğlu were put forward as presidential candidates before the last elections held in May 2023 by former Good Party leader Meral Akşener, but they announced that they would not be candidates and would continue to work in the Ankara and Istanbul municipalities, due to an agreement on the nomination of former party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu among the opposition “Nation Alliance” parties, or what was known as the “Table of Six.”
The two names have risen again after their great success in the last local elections on March 31, while successive opinion polls in recent months, which were prompted by repeated calls from the leader of the Republican People’s Party, Ozgur Ozel, to go to early elections due to the poor economic conditions.
In the latest poll, Yavaş surpassed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the most admired politician by Turkish voters.
Yavaş got 20.7 percent, while Erdogan got 18.8 percent, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu came in third with 14.5 percent, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel came in fourth with 10.4 percent, and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan came in fifth with 4.2 percent.
These results did not differ from many opinion polls conducted by research centers and opinion polling companies over the months following the local elections at the end of last March.
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2024-08-07 14:24:41