Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections will be held May 14 if technical procedures can be followed by that date, an official from the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) said.
“The elections will not be postponed, the process continues as it is. If the necessary technical infrastructure is prepared, they will be held on May 14,” the AKP official told the BBC Turkish.
Bulent Arinc, once a party heavyweight but now a disfavored senior AKP figure, on Monday proposed postponing the elections, claiming the situation in the earthquake zone is “so bad that there are no voters there anymore.”
Arinc’s proposal was heavily criticized by the opposition, which accused the AKP of trying to avoid the elections.
The AKP official, who spoke to the BBC, said the debate had also been taken up in party committees.
“Technical assistance is needed for the polling places, the containers for voting, and the technical preparations such as printing the seals of district election boards, etc. The Supreme Election Committee can speed up these things,” he said, adding that if May 14 seems too early, it will be held on June 18, the legal deadline for the elections.
Source: Gerçek News
