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"This earthquake will bury Erdogan in ruins", the window to avoid the May 14 elections

2023-02-09 20:06:22Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

"This earthquake will bury Erdogan in ruins", the window to avoid the

The devastating scale of Monday's earthquake in southern Turkey poses "considerable difficulties" for elections scheduled for mid-May, a Turkish official said today, in the first indication that authorities may consider postponing the vote.

President Tayyip Erdogan, seeking to extend his stay in power for a third decade, said last month that elections would be held on May 14. Polls published before the earthquake suggested it would be the toughest electoral challenge he has faced to date.

Erdogan's popularity has already been eroded by rising living costs and the depreciation of the lira. He is now facing a wave of criticism over his government's response to Turkey's deadliest earthquake since 1999, shortly before he came to power.

'Major logistical challenge' for holding elections

Whatever the political impact of the disaster, the logistical challenge of holding elections in affected areas is enormous. About 13 million people live in the area affected by the earthquakes, and hundreds of thousands need somewhere to stay after the earthquake destroyed their homes or it is too dangerous to live in them again.

"It's really too early to talk about elections," said the Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There has been a state of emergency for three months. 15% of the population lives in that area, an area that produces almost 10% of the GDP".

He said Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) and its parliamentary ally MHP would look into the matter, but hinted that it was too early to decide anything immediately after the earthquake and while the death toll was still rising.

Hard to hold elections in Turkey on May 14

"It seems that we have come out of the pre-election period we were entering. We will review developments, but at the moment there are serious difficulties in holding elections on May 14.

Erdogan was expected to formally announce in March that presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on May 14 instead of mid-June as planned.

Criticism of Turkey's emergency response to the earthquake is mounting, with survivors and opposition politicians accusing the government of a slow and inadequate relief effort.

Turkish journalist Can Dudar, who lives abroad and was sentenced in absentia to 27 years in prison on charges of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization, said Erdogan came to power after the 1999 earthquake and could be ousted by the latter.

Criticism of the response to the 1999 earthquake, which killed 17,000 people, was one of the factors that led to a decline in support for the then government, which helped the AKP triumph in 2002.

"Erdogan came to power after the 1999 earthquake, it seems he will leave after the 2023 earthquake," Dudar said in a video on Twitter. "This earthquake that has cost the lives of thousands of people will bury it in the ruins."


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