Iftikhar Gilani / ANKARA
Polling is going on in Turkiey for the presidential and parliamentary elections today. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade rule is facing a tough challenge from main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads an alliance of six opposition parties.
More than 64.1 million people are registered to vote, including over 1.76 million who already cast their ballots abroad and 4.9 million first-time voters.
A total of 191,885 ballot boxes have been set up for voters in the country.
Every voter will be casting two ballots, one for the president and the other for parliamentarians, both of whom will serve five-year terms.
Voters will choose between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seeking reelection, main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and Sinan Ogan.
Muharrem Ince, another presidential contender, withdrew from the race on Thursday.
More than 30 political parties and over 150 independent parliamentary candidates will compete in the elections.
There are five multiparty blocs in the running: the People’s Alliance, Nation Alliance, Ancestral Alliance, Labor and Freedom Alliance, and Union of Socialist Forces Alliance.
Kilicdaroglu, a mild mannered 74-year-old former bureaucrat, has promised to fix Turkiey’s faltering economy and restore democratic institutions compromised by a slide to authoritarianism during Erdogan’s tenure. On the other hand, Erdogan has been extolling the virtues of his long rule, independent Foreign Policy and his efforts to bolster Turkey’s defense industry continuously. Recently, he raised the wages of government workers by 45 per cent and lowered the retirement age.
For survivors affected by the 6th of February earthquakes, voting will prove far harder, because many have left their homes and can only vote where they are registered.
In a Presidential election, a candidate must win over 50 per cent of the vote in order to be elected. Otherwise Turkey will head to a run-off on the 28th of May.
The Parliamentary election is also taking place at the same time as the Presidential elections. Turkiey follows a system of proportional representation in Parliament. Parties must obtain not less than seven per cent of votes – either on their own or in alliance with other parties – in order to enter Parliament.