Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has got 49.35% of the total votes cast in the Republic of Türkiye’s presidential elections held on Sunday, May 14th, the state media reported on Monday, May 15th, following 100% counting of the ballots. His nearest rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the Opposition’s main candidate has got 45% votes.
As neither Erdoğan nor Kılıçdaroğlu could cross the 50% benchmark required to win Türkiye’s presidential elections, they will face a second round of elections on May 28th. The thin margin between the two contestants exhibits an intense political polarisation in the country where the incumbent president has been in power for more than two decades.
“Türkiye has proven once again that it is among the world’s leading democracies with its commitment to superiority of national will, freedom of its citizens in their political choices”, President Erdoğan said after the results were declared. He had expressed confidence regarding surpassing the 50% benchmark.
Apart from Erdoğan, who represents the incumbent Justice and Development Party, and Kılıçdaroğlu, who represents the Republican People’s Party, Sinan Oğan of the ATA Alliance got 5.22% of the total votes and Muharrem İnce from the Homeland Party got 0.43% votes. Although İnce had earlier pulled out of the race for the top post, his votes were considered valid by the authorities.
There was a record 88.84% voter turnout during Türkiye’s presidential elections, out of which nearly a million votes were invalidated by the authorities. Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party-led People’s Alliance got 321 seats in the 600-member Parliament. The Justice and Development Party won 266 seats on its own, while its ally Nationalist Movement Party won 50 seats and the New Welfare Party won five.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s Republican People’s Party-led Opposition alliance won 213 seats in the Parliament. The Republican People’s Party won 169 seats on its own, the Good Party won 44 seats. The Labour and Freedom Alliance, consisting of the pro-Kurdistan People’s Democratic Party, may win up to 66 seats, while the ATA Alliance and the Union of Socialist Forces failed to enter the Turkish Parliament.
The Opposition had earlier alleged that the results of Türkiye’s presidential elections have been manipulated, accusing the government of malpractices. Erdoğan had slammed the Opposition and reposed faith in the election process.
“The May 14th elections were held in peace and have been a festival of democracy. It reflects Türkiye’s democratic maturity. As we carried out the elections in such a positive and democratic atmosphere and as the votes are still being counted, rushing the declaration of the results means robbery of political will”, Erdoğan said, accusing media outlets close to the Opposition of leaking manipulative results.
Both Erdoğan, who shares a warm relationship with the West and Russia, and Kılıçdaroğlu, who is a pro-western politician, had earlier asked their supporters to remain vigil until the counting of the Türkiye’s presidential elections. The second round of the election may become more intense due to the heavy polarisation of voters in the country.
