Turkish main opposition leader picked to run against Erdogan

A six-party alliance on Monday nominated main opposition party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as its common candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in elections in May, ending months of uncertainty and bickering that had frustrated their supporters.

The alliance tapped the leader of the pro-secular, center-left Republican People’s Party, or CHP, hours after a key member of the grouping – who had rejected Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy – agreed to a compromise solution and returned to the coalition.

Turkey is headed toward pivotal presidential and general elections on May 14 that could shift the country toward a more democratic course or extend Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. 

The elections are Erdogan’s toughest during his 20-year rule and come amid economic turmoil and criticism of the government’s response to a devastating earthquake last month.

Meral Aksener, who leads the nationalist Iyi Party, broke away from the alliance on Friday , over Kilicdaroglu’s candidacy. Her split from the alliance had been seen as a major boost for Erdogan.

A former interior minister whose party is the second largest in the opposition bloc, Aksener was reported to have favored either of the popular mayors of Istanbul or Ankara instead of Kilicdaroglu.

Kilicdaroglu, 74, has failed to win a national election in the 13 years he has led the CHP. The two mayors – both from CHP – have been showing more favorable poll ratings against Erdogan than Kilicdaroglu.

Officials said Aksener returned to the alliance after a compromise was reached where Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas would be nominated as vice-presidents.

Earlier on Monday, Yavas and Imamoglu, who were elected to lead their cities in 2019, met with Aksener in an apparent attempt to convince her to return to the alliance.

“There is an election in front of us. Our nation cannot tolerate a separation,” Yavas told reporters.

The alliance has vowed to restore a parliamentary democracy in Turkey should they dislodge Erdogan, abolishing the presidential system that he introduced. Opponents say the system, which was narrowly approved in a 2017 referendum and was installed following elections in 2018, has amounted to “one-man rule” without checks and balances.

In addition to CHP and Iyi, the members of the alliance are: Temel Karamollaoglu’s conservative Felicity Party; Gultekin Uysal’s Democrat Party; The Democracy and Progress Party led by Ali Babacan; and Future Party chaired by Ahmet Davutoglu.

Babacan had served as economy minister under Erdogan while Davutoglu once led his government as prime minister.

Excluded from the alliance is the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, which is the second-largest opposition party. That party is facing closure following a severe crackdown by the government for alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militant groups. [AP]