Turkey’s former prime minister, and head of the Turkish opposition Future party, Ahmet Davutoglu, announced his willingness to form an alliance with all opposition parties against his former ally President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Davutoglu asserted that his party is ready for the elections, whether it is held on the predetermined date in 2023, or even earlier.
The former PM said his party has finished its formations in 53 of Turkey's 81 states, and will hold its first general conference in August to prepare for the elections, without the need to include deputies from other parties.
Turkey's electoral law stipulates that a party can run for elections if it is represented in the parliament, or has completed its formations in half of Turkey’s states and has held its general conference six months before the elections.
Davutoglu resigned from Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), saying it had moved away from its founding values.
He said his party is ready to coordinate with all Turkish opposition parties and establish balanced alliances for the future of the country, adding that Turkey cannot afford to create barriers between political parties.
“Turkey cannot bear a policy that sets barriers between political parties… The country’s future and the nation’s peace are not entitled to one party.”
Davutoglu indicated there was a real crisis in managing the country and the current political authority is unfit, stressing the need for a new political vision.
Recent discussions between political circles suggested that opposition parties are forming electoral alliances, one of which may include the Good, Saadet, and Future parties.
On the possibility of holding early elections, Davutoglu said his party was determined to enter the polls at any time and under any circumstances.
Recently, the Republican People's Party (CHP), Turkey’s largest opposition party, offered to transfer some of its deputies to the Future party as well as the Democracy and Progress party, led by Ali Babacan, to enable them to run for the coming elections.
The CHP had previously done this with the Good party headed by Meral Aksener, before the early parliamentary elections in 2018.
The statement of the CHP’s President, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, antagonized AKP and its ally the Nationalist Movement Party. Both tried to change the electoral and political parties’ laws to restrict the transfer of deputies between the parties, in an attempt to block Babacan and Davutoglu parties from preparing for the polls.
Meanwhile, Konda Research and Consultancy announced in a recent study that the popular support for the Justice and Development Party has dropped to its lowest levels with less than 30 percent last February, one month before the country recorded its first coronavirus cases.
The general director of Konda, Bekir Agirdir, stated that the two new political parties of Babacan and Davutoglu can create an actual crisis for Erdogan's party, denying the allegations that each will not receive more than 5 percent of the votes.
Agirdir indicated there is a policy of tension being applied and there are attempts to criminalize political parties, which is a threat to all parties.
