Turkey: Erdogan calls for snap polls in June

ANKARA: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called snap elections in Turkey for June 24, bringing the polls forward by over a year-and-a-half after a call from his main nationalist ally.

Both presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on the same day. They had originally been scheduled for November 3, 2019.

Erdogan made the announcement in an address at his presidential palace after meeting Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli.

“As result of consultations with Mr Bahceli, we decided to hold elections on June 24, 2018, a Sunday,” said Erdogan.

Bahceli stunned Turkish political observers on Tuesday when he urged the government to hold the presidential and par- liamentary elections on August 26, 2018.

But the date announced by Erdogan is even earlier and will precipitate an intense and hurried election campaign as opposition parties seek to challenge the Turkish strongman.

The MHP chief’s intervention surprised commentators since the government led by Erdogan has repeatedly insisted there will be no early elections.

The elections are significant as a new executive presidency — agreed in a 2017 referendum and denounced by the opposition as giving the head of state authoritarian powers — will come into force. The polls will also give Erdogan a chance to extend his stay in power with a new-five year mandate, after already serving 15 years in power as premier and then president.