The President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has signed the presidential decree which sets May 14 as the date for the presidential and legislative elections.
On Friday, during an official ceremony, the Turkish Head of State signed the decree for the holding of the elections, using the power granted to him by Article 116 of the Turkish Constitution.
“Based on article 116 of our Constitution, I signed the decree which sets May 14 for the renewal of the elections scheduled for June 18,” he said.
The initial date of the double ballot was June 18, 2023, but the imperatives of the country’s agenda, such as university exams, pushed the executive to define a more appropriate date for the holding of the elections, without the citizens being penalized.
Thus, in accordance with the Constitution, the decree will be published on Saturday in the Turkish Official Gazette.
Therefore, the Turkish High Electoral Council (YSK) will have to announce in the coming days the electoral calendar for the next two months.
This calendar will specify the dates for filing candidacies, for the presidential election but also for the legislative elections, the start and end dates of the official campaign, but also the procedures to be followed by the victims of the earthquakes of February 6, which changed address and province to be able to vote where they are.
Concerning the electoral campaign, Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained that the people who want to be legislative candidates under the label of the party in power will have to pay a sum (which remains to be defined) to the AFAD (Directorate for the management of disasters and emergency situations), for the benefit of earthquake victims.
In addition, no music will be used during the campaign of the outgoing president, candidate for his own succession.
Erdogan assures that his campaign will be sober and respectful of the victims of the earthquakes. He also appealed to the candidates of the other parties to adopt an equivalent posture.
Source: AL 24 News
