Turkey: Opposition unites to topple Erdogan by agreeing on a new candidate
The current Turkish regime is in a state of deep anxiety as the upcoming presidential elections approach under poor conditions and failures by Erdogan and his men, both internally and externally, Turkish news network NTV revealed that the leaders of six Turkish opposition parties agreed to present a joint presidential candidate to run against the current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the elections scheduled for 2023.
New president
i̇ According to TNN, the person chosen to run will not only be the president of opposition parties but of the whole of Turkey, where the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), National Reconciliation Party (IYP) and Islamic Happiness Party (SP) are represented.
The Democratic Party, Future Party, Democracy and Progress Party said in a statement after a 6-hour meeting. Opposition parties, which form the National Alliance, cooperated earlier this year to sign a joint declaration to restore parliamentary order and strip the president of his powers if they won the 2023 elections.
Black days
According to the Turkish network, this is the first time that opposition leaders publicly announce a joint candidate against Erdogan, the only candidate for the ruling People’s Alliance (PA), and his only partner is the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), taking advantage of his extremely low popularity in recent years after numerous failures. The Turkish Communist Party (AKP), which is headed by Erdogan, is the largest Islamist party in the country.
Unpopular Erdogan
The network confirmed that Erdogan led Turkey for nearly two decades, with the 68-year-old leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) re-elected president in 2018 with greatly enhanced executive powers after a nationwide referendum marred by opposition claims of vote rigging. His political opponents accuse him of bypassing parliament through presidential decrees, undermining the independence of the judiciary and seeking to suppress opponents of his rule. It went on to say that support for Erdogan and his ruling coalition has steadily declined, as the country’s inflation reached its highest level in 24 years at 80%, leading to a crisis in the cost of living. It said that the leaders of the six parties are scheduled to hold a second round of consultations in October, after the opening of the Turkish parliament session, and the next meeting between the two leaders will be hosted by CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is named among the strong candidates in the presidential election.
