The Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has claimed there is no winner in the latest presidential election, accusing it of fraud.
According to the Financial Times (FT), CHP Vice-Chairman Muharrem Erkek has challenged the results of 2,269 ballot boxes out of at least 201,807 ballot boxes in the presidential election held in Turkey on the 17th (local time) to the Election Commission. .
He said that papers raising allegations of fraud accounted for about 1% of the total vote, and that this could not overturn the results of the presidential election, but there was no winner in the presidential election.
“As President Erdogan did not receive a vote of confidence, opposition supporters should actively participate in the run-off,” Erkek said. It is important to continue the fight to end Erdogan’s 20-year rule.”
In the presidential election held on the 14th, President Erdogan won 49.51% (about 27.1 million votes) as a result of the final tally, followed by Kemal Kultzdaroglu, leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), with 44.88% (about 24.6 million votes). The difference in votes between the two candidates is 4.63%p (approximately 2.5 million votes).
On this day, the opposition party claimed that about 2% of votes were fraudulent in the general election, which was held on the same day as the presidential election. A coalition led by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) maintained a majority in the general election, winning 323 out of 600 seats in the parliament.
Election experts pointed out that while the Turkiye elections seemed largely peaceful, Erdogan had an unfair advantage ahead of the vote.
“Public broadcasters clearly favored the ruling party and Erdogan,” said Jan Peterson, who led the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OECD) election watchdog. Most private and state-run TV channels also broadcast biasedly.” Regarding the Election Commission, he pointed out that there are concerns about independence due to lack of transparency and inadequate communication.
Meanwhile, since no majority (50%) of the vote came out in this presidential election, the final winner was eclipsed in the final on the 28th.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.