The Opposition Alliance in Turkey’s 2023 Elections
The Opposition Alliance in Turkey’s 2023 Elections

Author(s): Berk Esen
Subject(s): Government/Political systems, Electoral systems
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Opposition Alliance; Turkey; 2023; elections;
Summary/Abstract: On 14 May Turkish voters headed to polls to elect a new president and parliament for a five-year term. For many observers of Turkish politics, the 2023 elections were the opposition's best chance to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since his Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) was first voted into power in the November 2002 elections. Weakened by high inflation, intra-party fissures, and devastating earthquakes in February, Erdoğan's ruling People Alliance met with a strong challenge by an opposition pre-electoral alliance that nominated a joint presidential candidate; achieved partial coordination in parliamentary lists and ran a joint campaign. An opposition alliance that fielded joint candidates in the 2019 local elections had already defeated the ruling People's Alliance candidates in several of the country's most populous metropolitan areas and set its eyes for the presidency since then.

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