A co-founder of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) insisted on his proposal to postpone the elections, warning of “chaos” if the opposition refused to compromise.
Bulent Arinc, who was also a former parliament speaker, suggested Monday that the elections be postponed “so that the state bureaucracy can focus only on healing the wounds of our citizens,” adding that this was “not an option but a necessity”
After opposition leaders rejected the idea, he nevertheless persisted with his proposal.
CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said, “No one can create their own legal norm by inventing justifications that violate the constitution and laws”
Article 78 of the Constitution allows elections to be postponed in the event of war.
“Since there is no war, the elections in Turkey cannot be postponed,” Kilicdaroglu said.
But, Arinc said, “If the opposition leaves without an agreement, there will be chaos. We will have to bear the consequences of this together.”
Asked what would happen in the event of a disagreement, he said that “other options would be sought,” without elaborating on what those options were.
“This is worse than war. I’m in favor of holding the elections together with the local elections in March 2024, after these wounds have healed.
If they say that’s too late, I’ll offer November. My third offer, whatever date you agree on, would be September or August, I’ll leave that up to you. But I’m assuming with this offer that it won’t be in June.
Source: Gerçek News
