By Ahmad Sabra | Staff Writer
On the 14th of May, the Turkish people headed to the ballots to cast their votes in the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The results were surprising, as against many predictions and opinion tolls, opposition leader Kilicdar Oglu could not win the first round, gathering only 44.9% of the votes. His primary Opponent, Erdogan, was 0.6% short of the 50+1 he needed to win from the first round and secure his re-election.
As the run-off elections approach the coming Sunday on the 28th, the opposition is rallying to attract the votes of the ultra-Nationalist Ogan, as the opposition’s rhetoric and campaign have turned largely anti-refugee. However, Ogan, who acquired 5.17% of the votes, has announced his endorsement of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the “people’s alliance” that includes Islamist and Nationalist fractions. Oğan cited Erdoğan’s parliamentary majority as a reason for his decision:
“It is important that the newly elected president is under the same [leadership] as the parliament, [Kılıçdaroğlu’s] alliance on the other hand could not display sufficient success against the People’s Alliance which has been in power for 20 years, and could not establish a perspective that could convince us about the future.”
The secular Centre-Left candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu finds himself in a situation where if the numbers from the last elections add up, the opposition’s efforts end in despair, and Erdogan gets another 6 years where he can further entrench the Turkish state with his autocratic influence.
Nonetheless, the ballots will speak on Sunday, and as the last round proved, you can not forecast the result of an election.