ANKARA: Turkey’s secular opposition parties must stop squabbling and come up with credible policies if they are to have any chance of unseating the Islamist-rooted government in elections set for July.
Analysts said a pro-secular rally of one million people in the port city of Izmir on Sunday kept up pressure on the ruling AK Party but failed to show the opposition as a strong alternative.
The leaders of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the small Democratic Left Party (DSP) let down their supporters by refusing to meet on stage and announce a centre-left alliance, the analysts said.
Much of the attention in July will be on how many opposition parties clear the 10 per cent hurdle to enter parliament. The AK Party currently enjoys a big majority because most parties failed to get into parliament in 2002.
“I am very disappointed at the CHP and DSP. Now I don’t know who to vote for in July,” said Haluk Berk, a secular doctor who also teaches at an Izmir university.Turkey is in the throes of its worst political crisis in years due to a standoff between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government and the secularist elite, including army generals.
The crisis forced Erdogan to call early general elections for July 22 after failing to get his presidential candidate elected in parliament.However, opposition parties are still struggling to recover from the stinging defeat they suffered in 2002.
The AK Party remains the most popular party in Turkey and could return to power either alone or with a coalition partner, depending on which polls you read.
SMALL PARTIES: Opposition parties, particularly nationalist-minded ones, have seen their popularity rise in the past year but may struggle to clear the 10 per cent threshold, polls show.
The centre-right Motherland Party and True Path Party have agreed to merge in the hope of passing the threshold but must still decide who will lead their New Democrat Party.
Analysts say a culture of autocratic management of parties in Turkey has isolated them from the public. Failure to bring in women and younger politicians has also hurt their image.
The AK Party has the best grassroots support network and has a carefully crafted election programme, unlike most of the opposition who are now struggling to come up with policies.
“There is no credible opposition alternative,” said Hasan Cemal, a leading columnist at liberal daily Milliyet. “We still wait for credible election policies, especially economic ones.”—Reuters
