ANKARA: Turkiye is set for a runoff presidential election on May 28 after neither President Erdogan nor his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu won more than 50 per cent of the votes on Sunday.
Defying western media projections, the Erdogan led AKP and its ally MHP won a majority of seats in Parliament, giving them a psychological boost ahead of the Erdogan- Kilicdaroglu on May 28. They two allies are projected to win 323 seats out of 600 with the smaller MHP slated to win 50 seats and AKP over 270 seats.
Kilicdaroglu won a majority in most of the major cities including Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara, while Erdogan swept the countryside which has more voters.
With about 300 ballor boxes yet to be counted, Erdogan 49.51 per cent, Kilicdaroglu 44.88 per cent and Sinan Ogan 5.17 per cent. Kilicdaroglu could be disadvantaged in the runoff because Ogan’s voters could shift to Erdogan in the run-off, giving him an unassailable 55 per cent of the vote.
Ogan’s conditions for backing a candidate in the runoff included preserving key constitutional articles, repatriating refugees, the fight against FETO and PKK terrorist groups, and a change to the current interest rate policy. But for the latter, Erdogan’s position is similar on all nationalist socio-political issues.
Erdogan addressed supporters from AK Party headquarters in Ankara on Sunday night stating that, “Even though the final results are not in, we are far ahead”.
Kilicdaroglu also made a speech, stating that, “We will win these elections in the second round.”