May 11, 2023 – For the past six months every foreign diplomat and journalist has been asking the same question:
Will Erdogan follow in the footsteps of US President Donald Trump and refuse to accept defeat if he loses?
While this may be a legitimate question in some areas of the world, there has been no discussion surrounding it in Turkey.
Yes, there are concerns over potential voter fraud and irregularities, but no one is debating whether Erdogan will undemocratically try and cling to power.
First, Turks overwhelmingly engage in the voting process with the turnout rate usually above 80 percent.
The ballot box is sacrosanct.
No leader can reject election results and try and continue with ordinary political life. It would be a violation of the basic social contract.
Second, the election system involves the direct participation of the three primary and major political parties.
The election boards at polling stations, excluding the chairman, all consist of representatives from political parties and they check every vote and inspect irregularities.
It’s a transparent system and the people have faith in it.
Interference is extremely hard and incidents of fraud or vote tampering can be quickly revealed thanks to cross checking.
Third, some have suggested that that Erdogan could trigger a repeat the Istanbul mayoral elections and force the Supreme Election Council to cancel the results and ask for a rerun.
Even in 2019, when Ekrem Imamoglu was declared the winner with 13,000 votes, he received his official certificate and managed the municipality until the board made its final judgment for a rerun. And what happened then? Imamoglu won in a landslide.
Kilicdaroglu has already said he is ready for a rerun.
So, the chance of Erdogan refusing to relinquish power in the event of a defeat isn’t likely at all. But, there are still other concerns. Some are wary that the Interior Ministry trying to establish a parallel election tracking system by directly getting data from the election boards.
One thing I can attest to is that all the senior officials close to Erdogan have already semi-packed their belongings in the event of a defeat. Many of them already start their sentences with conditionals such as: “If he wins.”
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Sources: Middle East Eye
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Qaranimo Online
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