The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has decided to make a detailed analysis of the 31 ballot boxes that will be established all over Istanbul for the June 23 metropolitan mayor elections to reach all the voters of each box and have face-to-face meetings.
Basing its election campaign on the analysis of the ballot boxes, the AK Party had meetings with local neighborhood heads of the party, and made an evaluation of the current political atmosphere in Turkey's commercial capital.
Coming up with a road map, later on, the AK Party began its election campaign by reaching out to the electorates of each ballot box through the neighborhood heads. As part of t
his road map, the local heads are working to hold face-to-face meetings with all 350 electorates of each ballot box. They meet with the voters at the meetings conducted in their buildings and explain to them why the elections are being renewed and note their demands.
The voters are also being informed about People's Alliance candidate Binali Yıldırım's projects and promises for the city, from a discount in water prices to supporting natural gas payments. The slogan of the AK Party is "If anyone can do it, AK Party can," which implies that all the promises and projects will be real as soon as possible following the elections.
The AK Party's priority is to convince voters who did not participate in the elections to vote. In the March 31 elections, approximately 1.5 million voters did not go to the polls in Istanbul. It is estimated that almost 900,000 of these voters actually are part of the AK Party's electorate base.
To convince the people, the party's campaign is being supported by all members, including Parliament deputies. AK Party deputies have been campaigning in Istanbul as the assembly is currently in recess. The AK Party deputies from all over Turkey meet their fellow townsmen who reside in Istanbul as part of the election campaign.
According to early feedback, the AK Party's "fellow-townsmen" strategy has been a real success. Yıldırım also met with Istanbul residents throughout Ramadan for iftars and sahurs (fast-breaking and morning meals) and explained his projects for Istanbul.
The Supreme Election Council (YSK) decided to annul the March 31 mayoral elections in Istanbul due to irregularities and unlawfulness. The YSK's decision for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) elections came down to a vote of four members against seven in favor on May 6. The renewed election will be held on June 23.
The Istanbul mayoral elections witnessed a very close race between the People's Alliances candidate Yıldırım, and the Nation Alliance and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The elections in Istanbul saw İmamoğlu being awarded the certificate of the election with only a 13,729-vote lead. The decision was followed by lengthy discussions and objections by parties demanding a do-over election due to irregularities.
*Eda Işık
