Opposition in Turkey terms Istanbul repoll ‘dictatorship’

Istanbul, May 7 : Turkey’s electoral body has ordered that Istanbul’s local elections be re-held after a shock opposition victory in March. The vote will be held on June 23.

CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu was officially confirmed Istanbul’s mayor by the authorities in April.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party had questioned the slim win by the opposition CHP, claiming there were “irregularities and corruption”.

CHP deputy chair Onursal Adiguzel said the rerun showed it was “illegal to win against the AK Party”. He tweeted that the decision was “plain dictatorship”. “This system that overrules the will of the people and disregards the law is neither democratic, nor legitimate,” he said.

In a speech broadcast on social media, Imamoglu has condemned the electoral board for ordering the rerun, saying they were influenced by the ruling party, the BBC reported.

“We will never compromise on our principles,” he told the crowd. “This country is filled with 82 million patriots who will fight… until the last moment for democracy.”

A supporters’ group of Imamoglu urged restraint, saying: “Let’s stand together, let’s be calm… We will win, we will win again.”

An AKP representative on the electoral board, Recep Ozel, said the rerun was because some electoral officials were not civil servants and some result papers had not been signed.