Erdoğan brings date of Turkish general election forward to May

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signalled that Turkey’s elections will be held on May 14, pulling the crucial vote forward by a month as the ruling party faces its toughest campaign after two decades in power.

The 68-year-old president said in a speech to lawmakers in his Justice and Development party (AKP) on Wednesday that both the presidential and parliamentary poll would take place on the same date as Turkey’s first free multi-party election in 1950.

Polls show support for the AKP hovering at historical lows over its handling of Turkey’s $800bn economy. Raging inflation, double-digit unemployment and a currency crisis have shrunk Turkish households’ spending power. In recent weeks, Erdoğan has announced public spending measures as part of efforts to ease the economic pain.

May 14 is the 73rd anniversary of an election when prime minister Adnan Menderes prevailed against the People’s Democratic party (CHP), which is again Turkey’s biggest opposition party. Menderes was later deposed by the military.

“On May 14 1950, the late Menderes said ‘Enough is enough, the nation has its say,’ and emerged from the ballot box with a great victory,” Erdoğan said. “On the same day 73 years later, our nation will say ‘enough’ to these coup pranksters and incompetent aspirants that face us. I call on our parliament to do what is necessary.”

Erdoğan previously said the election, scheduled for June 18, should be brought forward to avoid the summer holiday season. Parliament and Turkey’s election council must approve the new election date.

An earlier date could help the AKP capitalise on the stimulus measures, including wage rises and early retirement for millions of people, said Özer Sencar, director of Metropoll Strategic and Social Research Center. Economists have said that inflation, which is running at more than 64 per cent, will eat it into the pay rises by summer.

Erdoğan has pursued rapid economic growth by ordering the central bank to slash interest rates despite one of the world’s highest inflation rates, hitting the national currency hard. But the weak lira has boosted exports and manufacturing, and low borrowing costs have fuelled consumption.

“Erdoğan’s remarks don’t leave room for interpretation, and we can now plan for elections on May 14,” said Sencar. “He had long since started his campaign with his economic [policies], while the opposition is relying on economic conditions being enough to ensure a win.” He added that recent Metropoll surveys showed the AKP had lured back some disaffected voters in recent months.

Six opposition parties, including the CHP, that have formed an electoral alliance to end what they call Erdogan’s one-man rule have yet to nominate a challenger to Erdoğan.

Leading opposition figure Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, polls ahead of Erdoğan. A court last month convicted him of insulting public officials and banned him from politics, which the mayor said was politically motivated. İmamoğlu remains in office pending his appeal and has not said he intends to contest the presidency.

Turkey’s second-biggest opposition party also faces a ban at the country’s highest court on charges it has links to Kurdish militants.

Erdoğan frequently invokes his personal hero Menderes, a centre-right leader who ruled Turkey for a decade until the 1960 coup. He was executed a year later after a military tribunal convicted him of violating the constitution, and the CHP returned to power in a coalition in the next election.