- Election board still to rule on a demand for a re-run of the vote in one Istanbul district
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party suffered a major setback in the country’s March 31 local elections
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party will demand a new vote in Istanbul after local elections held nine days ago, on grounds that irregularities in voting directly affected the outcome, a party vice chairman said.
“We will file our extraordinary appeal today. We will say that there have been events that directly impacted the outcome of the elections and that we demand the renewal of the elections in Istanbul,” vice chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz told a press conference in Ankara.
Earlier, Turkey’s top electoral authority has rejected a request by the AKP for a full recount of votes in the Istanbul mayoral race.
Recep Ozel, a member of the Supreme Electoral Board, said that the electoral authority has, however, allowed a recount of 51 ballot boxes in the city. The board was still to rule on a demand for a re-run of the vote in one Istanbul district.
Erdogan’s party suffered a major setback in the country’s March 31 local elections. Opposition candidates won in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, and squeezed out Erdogan’s party in Istanbul.
The ruling party has demanded a recount, maintaining that the elections were marred by irregularities. The opposition denounced the claim as a ploy to secure a re-run.