Unity, briefly
Turkey’s opposition parties say no more alliances; AK Party and MHP partnership continues
The alliance plans of the political parties are beginning to become more clear for the March 2019 local elections. The CHP, HDP, GOOD Party and Saadet Party shut their doors on possible alliances for the time being but what the AK Party and the MHP will do will be clearer in the coming days. The AK Party and the MHP are expected to cooperate in the local elections, as they did in the June 24 elections.
Seven months ahead of local elections, political parties have begun to set their road maps. MHP Chairman Devlet Bahceli pointed out that the June 24 June elections did not shut the doors on an alliance with the AK Party, noting that the MHP is not willing to lose the gains achieved on June 24.
AK Party Deputy Chairman Mehmet Ozhaseki also left the doors open for an alliance. “The nation loved this alliance,” he said. “Now there is nothing more normal than to continue this at the local elections.”
After his return from Kyrgyzstan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “There is a step we took during the parliamentary elections. We can also take such a mutual step in local elections. It would be beneficial for our friends, especially the leaders, to sit down and talk about this. If the parties view it positively, why not take such a step?”
The details of the alliance to be established between the AK Party and the MHP will become clear after Erdogan and Bahceli come together in the coming days. If a decision is made to form an alliance, the details are expected to be worked out under the coordination of a commission composed of AK Party and MHP members, as they did in the June 24 elections. If the AK Party and the MHP are allied in the local elections, AK Party candidates will be supported where the AK Party is strong, MHP candidates will be supported in places where MHP is strong and in the areas where another party is strong, whichever candidate that is most likely to win will be supported.
No all ance for CHP
The CHP has announced its decision not to form an alliance for local elections. “There is absolutely no alliance on our agenda” said CHP spokesman Faik Oztrak, adding that they would run candidates who would bring voters together. Rumors are that if the AK Party and the MHP make an alliance it may be difficult for the CHP to win in Eskisehir, Burdur and Aydin. The CHP claims it will win Istanbul and Ankara in the March 2019 elections.
The GOOD Party, which was part of the ‘national alliance’ with the CHP, Felicity Party (SP) and Democrat Party (DP) in the June 24 elections, began to work for local elections on September 1. The GOOD Party will not make an alliance in the local elections for the time being, in part because it feels the ‘national alliance’ did not bring the expected results. It will nominate its own candidate in the local elections. The SP is also not considering an alliance for the time being.
The HDP on its own again
It is expected that the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which did not join any alliance at the June 24 elections, will continue on its own in local elections. The news that the HDP and the CHP will form an alliance was denied by the two party leaders. HDP Co-Chair Sezai Temelli said that there are no negotiations on the alliance, that alliances should be made at the grassroots and that they will follow policies which will reflect the demands of localities over the 7 months ahead.