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More than a fortnight after canceling the victory of the opposition candidate in the Istanbul Municipal Council, the Turkish High Electoral Council (YSK) issued its full decision on Wednesday (May 22nd). The judges who make up this body detail the reasons which justified, according to them, to organize a new election on 23 June. The document also points out that this controversial decision was not unanimous.
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
These 250 pages were eagerly awaited, as the decision to cancel the Istanbul election had shocked the opposition, and it seemed to contradict the very jurisprudence of the High Electoral Council.
Seven of its eleven members voted for the cancellation . They explain how, according to them, more than 300,000 votes should be considered "suspicious", while Ekrem Imamoglu , the opposition candidate, won the election with a slight lead over that of power, Binali Yildirim.
Strange incoherence: the document first evokes 13,742 votes in advance, then 200 pages later counts only 13,729.
In particular, the proceeding notes that 754 polling station presidents were not public servants, as required by law, which would invalidate the results of these offices. In the last part of the document, four members of the Council, including its chairman, believe that these errors - and all the other points raised by their colleagues - should not have been enough to cancel the vote.
The deposed opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, immediately denounced a decision that " means nothing " and constitutes a " first " in the history of Turkey.