The Justice and Development Party loss in the local elections marked a painful hit for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, his biggest shock was the loss of Istanbul, where his political journey began. The loss of Istanbul, which is three times bigger than the capital, also came as a shock for the Justice and Development Party, which has Islamic roots.
Vice President of the Republican People’s Party Özgür Özel said that the president’s daily meetings and the press coverage that supported him did not help him secure Ankara, or prevent him from losing the elections in Istanbul for the first time since his party’s establishment in 2001. Furthermore, Erdogan, who has dominated the Turkish political scene since his rise to power 16 years ago and who practiced a strict rule held a firm grip of power, had organized electoral campaigns two months prior to Sunday’s voting, which he had described as “a matter of destiny” for Turkey.
It is worth noting that Turkey during Erdogan’s era when he was prime minister in 2002, witnessed a great economic boost that enabled many of the poor in the big cities to rise into the middle class. Entertainment venues were also flourishing in every Turkish city, especially in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. This had secured Erdogan and his party’s victory in previous elections. However, after the failed military coup and the transition of the presidential regime to a democratic downturn and the absence of the state of law, due to the arbitrary procedures towards those protesting against Erdogan and his Islamic party, Turkey has been witnessing an economic downturn along with a serious decline in the value of the Turkish pound in comparison with foreign currencies like the Dollar or Euro, events which the country has not witnessed before.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leaves the polling booth during local elections, in Istanbul, Sunday, March 31, 2019. AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
Özel added that, as a result of the above, Erdogan considered the results of the local elections to be the toll of danger’s bell, and maybe the beginning of the end of Erdogan and his party’s era. In light of all this, he declared that Turkey must focus on its stumbling economy before the general elections, which will take place in 2023.
Along with Turkey’s stuttering economy and the serious decline of the Turkish pound, the Turkish opposition is talking of a democratic recession, and consider the latest elections to be a great battle to regain public freedoms, which Erdogan and his Islamic political regime had taken away.
Özel also stressed that the people chose democracy, and he declared that his party had taken Ankara and Istanbul from the Justice and Development Party and also won Izmir, the city that overlooks the Aegean Sea, the opposition’s stronghold, and the third biggest city in Turkey.
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