GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Erdogan Prepares for a Win in Turkey's Elections

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Sinan Ciddi
Board of Contributors

Jun 8, 2018 | 12:39 GMT

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech at a rally in Istanbul in 2017.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech at a rally in Istanbul in 2017. The incumbent president stands to win another term in office -- and a lot more power -- in Turkey's next presidential election, slated for June 24.

(OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • A change in electoral law to count a vote for any party in an alliance as a vote for the entire alliance will give the newly formed opposition coalition in Turkey a better chance of defeating incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming elections.
  • Recent projections suggest that Erdogan will fall short of the simple majority he needs to win the election in the first round of voting, meaning he could wind up in a runoff.
  • The president and his Justice and Development Party, however, will pull out all the stops to ensure their victory in the June 24 vote, including voter intimidation and fraud.

If Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins a simple majority in the June 24 election, or in a runoff vote, he will enter another term in office, this time with significantly expanded powers. The prerogatives of Turkey's newly established executive presidency would give its holder practically unchecked authority, unless an opposition party, or parties, were to gain more than half of the seats in parliament. A parliamentary majority among the opposition would be a check on Erdogan, albeit a modest one, since the president will be able to issue decrees that have the legal status of legislation and that parliament cannot rescind. The question, then, is what chance -- if any -- Erdogan's opponents have to avert his victory....

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