Turkey presidential election will go to second round as Tayyip Erdogan fall short of outright victory
The Hindu
Turkey’s electoral chief said that the presidential race will go to a second round on May 28 as incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan fell just short of an outright victory.
Turkey's electoral chief said that the presidential race will go to a second round on May 28 as incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan fell just short of an outright victory.
Ahmet Yener, the head of Supreme Electoral Board, said on May 15 that even when the remaining 35,874 uncounted overseas votes were distributed, no one would secure the majority needed to win the elections outright.
He said preliminary results showed Mr. Erdogan won 49.51%, his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu won 44.88% and the third candidate Sinan Ogan won 5.17%. Even if all uncounted votes went to Mr. Erdogan, his votes would move up to 49.54%, Yener said.
Turkey's presidential elections appeared headed for a runoff on Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulling ahead of his chief challenger, but falling short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.
The vote will determine whether the strategically located NATO country remains under the president's firm grip or can embark on a more democratic course promised by his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
While Mr. Erdogan has governed for 20 years, opinion polls had suggested that run could be coming to an end and that a cost-of-living crisis and criticism over the government's response to a devastating February earthquake might redraw the electoral map.
Instead, Mr. Erdogan's retreat was still less marked than predicted — and with his alliance retaining its hold on the parliament, he is now in a good position to win in the second round.