Page 25 - bne_newspaper_January_25_2019

Opinion
January 25, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
Can he lose?
Given the realities of Turkey’s democracy on
the ground—and the great strengthening of his powers that Erdogan enjoyed when he became his country’s first executive president last summer under referendum-approved (don’t go there) constitutional changes that did away with the post of prime minister and enfeebled the parliament— the neutral observer must wonder whether it is
in fact possible for the country’s leader to lose an election.
Erdogan’s presidential republic of Turkey ranks
at 110th of 167 countries on the Democracy Index 2018 published by the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU). The EIU sees the country as under
a “hybrid regime”, not even positioning it as a flawed democracy given what it perceives as one-man rule. Iraq, Ivory Coast and Uganda each have higher scores for their electoral process and pluralism compared to Erdogan’s Turkey. Still, one could think of a far ruder term than the EIU has plumped for.
“Unless the opposition overcomes its divisions, it will struggle to mount a serious challenge,” the London-based Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) said on December 6 in a pre-local election briefing.
The Kurdish conflict divides the opposition although Erdogan holds “peace” talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) whenever he wants. However, the CHP is not allowed to be seen around the HDP while the nationalist Iyi Party has a fraction of the backing enjoyed by the ultranationalist MHP, the ally that props up the AKP in parliament.
“Local elections in #Turkey on March 31. Time for #Erdogan to start another war to distract Turkish voters from his mismanagement of the economy. Killing #Kurds is a winning political strategy which galvanizes Erdogan's base,” David L. Phillips of Columbia University said on December 14 in a tweet.
Send in the trustee
Of course, defeating Erdogan in a local poll is not always a guarantee of taking power. A total of 96 HDP municipalities are currently headed by trustees appointed by the government, according to latest figures provided by HDP co-head Sezai Temelli in November.
“If the ones plagued with terror win elections, we appoint trustees [after March 31],” Erdogan said back in October.
Erdogan has also pushed some of his own municipality chiefs to resign. It is hard to talk about a constitutional rule in Turkey. Erdogan acts like a walking constitution.
“According to Article 94 of the Constitution, political activities cannot be performed [by the Speaker of the Parliament]. We are not doing any political activity. An election is not a political activity,” Binali Yildirim, the AKP’s candidate for the mayor’s post in Istanbul, yet to resign his job as parliamentary speaker, said on January 10, Bianet reported.
“There is a written constitution in Turkey but the governing authority do not obey this constitution... What should be done against this... society should say stop this... Who will tackle with this? This is also important. Media, radio, TV stations, print media, internet media will do it. Second, bar associations will do it... Third, there are NGOs
on behalf of the law... Fourth, other NGOs...,” CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, blithely told journalists on January 17, Gokcer Tahincioglu of T24 reported.
Kilicdaroglu, who has lost a record number of elections as CHP leader since 2010, did not delve into what the main opposition leader’s business is besides providing a notarisation service for controversial election results.
“Erdogan’s notary”
Sometimes dismissed as “Erdogan’s notary”, Kilicdaroglu is yet to say anything about whether