Turkish voters will vote to choose the mayor of the metropolitan municipality, the mayor of the region, and members of the city’s municipal council (Anatolia)

Ankara -

Amid an atmosphere charged with expectations and hopes, Turkish voters will head to the polls tomorrow, Sunday, to choose the mayors of major municipalities, members of the municipal council, mayors of the regions, district mayors, and members of the neighborhood council, after months of intense electoral competition and fierce propaganda campaigns.

To gain a broader understanding of the mechanism for deciding the votes of Turkish voters that will shape the local future, Al Jazeera Net presents to you the most important topics related to the Turkish local elections.

Announcing the candidates of the new Welfare Party for the upcoming elections (social networking sites)

Highlights numbers

About 61 million Turkish citizens have the right to participate in the elections to choose the mayors of 30 major municipalities, 51 small mayors, 973 district mayors, 390 town mayors, and 50,336 district presidents throughout the country, in addition to members of local councils.

It is expected that about 1,32,620 young people will participate for the first time in the local elections, and the Turkish local elections will witness the participation of 36 political parties, according to the Supreme Election Authority in Turkey, as the length of the ballot paper reached about 100 centimeters due to the length of the list of parties participating in the elections.

Among the official list of participating parties, the Justice and Development Party, led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party, stands out, along with the main opposition parties such as the Republican People's Party, the Good Party, the Future Party, the Islamic Happiness Party, the Victory Party, the Homeland Party, and the Welfare Again Party.

The position of mayor of Istanbul also witnessed the largest number of candidates, with 49 candidates, including 22 representing political parties and 27 independent candidates, while the mayor of Ankara witnessed a competition between 24 candidates, including 19 belonging to political parties and 5 independents.

Akram Imamoglu seeks to win again the position of mayor of Istanbul (social networking sites)

An important challenge

According to the analysis of political expert Ahmed Ozgur, who spoke to Al Jazeera Net, the importance of local elections for both the government and the opposition emerges in the context of controlling the backbone of the major Turkish cities: Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir.

On the one hand, the Justice and Development Party is seeking to regain control in Istanbul and Ankara, which it lost in the 2019 elections, considering that victory will serve as a renewal of popular confidence in its policies and directions, especially in the economic and social aspects.

There are also expectations that success in controlling major cities may open the way for organizing a parliamentary referendum to call early elections, which may pave the way for President Erdogan to run for another term after he hinted that these local elections would be his last.

On the other hand, the opposition led by the Republican People’s Party has high hopes of establishing its footing in the major municipalities as an opportunity to regain momentum after the failure in the presidential elections, and the current mayor of Istanbul is counting on his re-election to enhance his chances of winning the presidency in the 2028 elections, amid expectations indicating To his promising chances if he succeeds in the municipal elections.

At the party level itself, these local elections represent the first major challenge for the party’s new president, Ozgur Ozil, who is facing pressure to achieve positive results and ward off the dangers of internal divisions, especially in light of the challenges posed by the party’s former president, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The ruling Justice and Development Party is running in the local elections in Istanbul with its candidate Murat Kurum for mayor (Anatolia)

The most important alliances

Unlike what happens in presidential and parliamentary circles, alliances between political parties do not take place formally in local elections, but rather take the form of informal cooperation, aimed at supporting candidates from a specific party when an agreement is reached between the concerned parties.

In this context, the Justice and Development Party and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party, were able to maintain what is known as the “People’s Alliance,” with the latter committed to supporting the former’s candidates in both Ankara and Istanbul. In return, the AKP pledges to support MHP candidates in designated areas such as Manisa and Karkalili, or specific areas within Istanbul and Ankara.

On the other hand, the opposition parties did not succeed in forming alliances similar to the “six-party coalition” seen in the 2023 presidential elections. Instead, these parties chose to run in the elections with their own candidates and independently, while being open to the possibility of supporting candidates from other parties. Optionally, without entering into any formal agreements.

The Turkish opposition is running in the local elections independently, in contrast to the coalition it formed in the last presidential elections (social networking sites)

The most prominent laws

Local elections in Turkey are held in only one stage, where the winner is considered to be the one who obtains the largest number of votes without having to reach a specific percentage. These elections are limited to the borders of the country only and do not include citizens residing abroad due to their local nature, which depends on voter registration in the country. Internally, therefore, Turks residing outside the country or inmates in prisons cannot participate in voting.

The voting process begins at seven in the morning in 32 states located in the east of the country, taking into account geographical differences and to make the most of daylight, and ends at four in the evening, while in the other states it begins at eight in the morning and ends at five in the evening, and the vote counting process begins after... At five o'clock, even if all voters on the list of voters at the polls cast their votes before that time.

The preliminary results of local elections are often announced late on the night of the poll or during the next day, after which the opportunity is opened for submitting objections, and after processing them, the results are officially and finally announced.

Voters exercise their electoral right through the use of three different ballot papers: The first is to select the mayor of the major municipality, the second to select the mayor of the region or district, and the third to elect members of the city’s municipal council.

The local elections are the first major challenge for the head of the New People's Party, Ozgur Ozil, who is facing pressure to achieve positive results (social networking sites)

Expectations

Regarding the course of the electoral process, the results of opinion polls suggest that the turnout in the elections may not reach the desired levels, partly because Turkish voters feel exhausted by political debates, especially in the wake of the elections that the country witnessed last year.

In addition to this, there is the potential impact of holding elections during the month of Ramadan, which may be a factor in reducing the turnout rate. Analyzes also predict that a peaceful democratic atmosphere will prevail on Election Day, far from any tensions or manifestations of fanaticism.

As for the election results, according to several research institutions that published opinion polls, and despite the sometimes varying results, the data indicate intense competition between the candidates, noting a great convergence in votes. However, these polls give preference to the candidates of the Republican People’s Party over the candidates of the Alliance. People in the capital and other major cities.

Source: Al Jazeera