Turkish opposition presses Erdogan to call early elections

Türkiye’s opposition has stepped up its pressure to push for early elections, as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) insists on holding them on to their scheduled date in 2028, with indications that they may be planned in the fall of 2027, opening the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to run again.

Opposition leader Özgür Özel, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), reiterated his call for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to go to early elections at a rally of his party’s supporters in Kütahya province on Saturday if he is confident his party can win the election.

This came hours after Özel called for early elections during a rally of his party’s supporters in the western province of Bursa on Friday night to protest the arrest of its CHP mayor, Mustafa Bozbay, who was arrested along with 11 others on Saturday as part of an investigation into charges of money laundering and bribery, describing it as an ambitious step.

Over the past few days, there have been allegations in political circles that Özel is planning to force Erdogan to call early elections, through a scenario based on a scenario of 5% of the seats in parliament being vacant (30 out of 600 seats), and heading to parliamentary by-elections.

According to the plan, Özel will first call on the speaker of parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, to hold elections to fill the eight seats currently vacant in parliament.

If that fails, 22 party deputies will resign, leaving 30 seats vacant, necessitating by-elections in accordance with article 78 of the constitution.

The CHP has been leading the polls since its landslide victory in the local elections on March 31, 2024, until the latest poll announced on Friday, despite the escalation of the judicial campaign against the party’s municipalities, which resulted in the arrest of 20 mayors, led by the mayor of Istanbul and the party’s candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, Ekrem İmamoğlu.

If Özel’s plan to hold by-elections and then head to early parliamentary and presidential elections succeeds, he will have the right to run in the elections, as there are no court rulings that prevent him from running for the presidency.

Özel said during the Kütahya rally on Saturday, “the municipalities of the (CHP) are steadfast, the ballot boxes are coming soon, and the people will deal a strong blow to the current government… We challenge you, Erdogan, to call for early elections”.

Özel’s call for early elections was met with broad support among opposition parties, with the head of the nationalist (iYi) Good Party, Musavat Dervişoğlu, saying that “Türkiye isn’t being run properly now, and it needs elections… The people can no longer tolerate this government and the one-man system it imposes”.

The head of the nationalist (Zafer) Victory Party, Ümit Özdağ, called for the opposition to unite on common ground, represented by a broad national alliance that would lead the country after the early elections, preserve the Turkish Republic, and alleviate the suffering of the people.

The head of the Happiness Party, Mahmut Arıkan, also supported the call for early elections, stressing the country’s urgent need to hold them, saying that the current government seems incapable of leading the country to a better future, and the government is trying to find a legal loophole regarding early elections, but insists on holding them in the second half of 2027.

Dr. Fatih Erbakan, the head of the New Welfare Party again, predicted that the elections would be held in the autumn of 2027 ahead of their normal date in 2028.

On the other hand, the pro-Kurdish Democracy and Equality Party (HDE), which had previously supported the call for early elections due to the country’s problems, particularly the economic situation, has changed.

“Our priority now is the peace process (the current currency of dissolving the PKK and introducing legal and democratic amendments that expand the rights of Kurds in Türkiye), and we don’t see early elections as appropriate, because the election atmosphere covers some issues, once the elections are mentioned, it becomes impossible to discuss any other agenda.

The Kurdish party’s stance has raised questions about whether this position will lead to a rift in its relationship with the CHP, possibly ending the unofficially announced alliance between them in the elections, and moving toward alignment with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), based on the common position on the “peace process” with the Kurds.

Party sources said the possibility of a break or rift with the CHP was unlikely.

“Our vision is that steps have been taken on the path to solution and democracy, and they are waiting for the legal framework of the peace process, and that we must be part of the negotiation process alongside the (Republican People’s Party), which should take the initiative as the founding party of the republic, and work to consolidate its foundations under the democratic rule of law,” They added.