Erdogan defends the legality of his presidential candidacy in the face of criticism from the opposition

29 Jan. () –

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has rejected this Sunday the accusations made by the country’s great opposition alliance against the legality of his candidacy for the presidential elections on May 14 by assuring that the change in the government system in the country will qualified for a new mandate.

The coalition formed by the Nation Alliance, Turkey’s main opposition coalition, questioned that Erdogan was committing an irregularity by running again, because he has already served the two terms stipulated by the Constitution by winning the 2014 and 2018 elections.

This Sunday, by contrast, Erdogan has adhered to the legal interpretation offered by his Justice and Development party (AKP), understanding that he has only served one mandate, the one he received in 2018, due to the fact that the country’s political transformation to a model presidential election the previous year represented a clean slate on the length of time he had been in power.

“Turkey was transformed into a new system of government through the 2018 elections, which means a reset of the system itself. Therefore, by reason and law, the president who was elected in 2018 is the first president of this new system. “, Erdogan said at a rally in the Aegean province of Denizili.

Erdogan took the opportunity to criticize the opposition for waiting until the last moment to denounce the validity of his candidacy. “I have been president for four and a half years since then. Where have you been all this time?” Questioned the president about the victory of his constitutional amendment referendum in 2017 in this regard, “so clear that it leaves no room for Doubts”.

Legal experts consulted by the Duvar news portal side with the opposition: Erdogan could only appear again if the elections were called by Parliament with 360 votes in favor — of the total 600 seats in the House –.

Such a case could not happen because the government coalition he leads, the People’s Alliance, only has 335 seats, recalls the lawyer specializing in Constitutional Law, Korkut Kanadoglu.