Turkish Elections : Erdogan wins 1st term as president ‘under new system’

[Y_Participant 4591]

Erdogan wins 1st term as president ‘under new system’ [1]

Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the majority of votes, the head of the electoral board said. This would mark the second consecutive term for Erdogan, but the first one under “a new system.”

With over 97.2 percent of votes counted, the head of Turkey’s High Electoral Board (YSK) says Erdogan has secured more than 50 percent of the votes needed for the victory.

In the parliamentary election, his AK Party is also in first place with over 45 percent. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) will also enter the parliament after passing the 10 percent threshold, according the board’s head, Sadi Guven. Turnout was at 87 percent for both polls, preliminary data shows.

Erdogan’s closest competitor, Muharrem Ince, has secured over 29 percent of the vote. His Republican People’s Party (CHP) placed second with nearly 21 percent and conceded saying that it wasn’t a fair race but Erdogan won according to unofficial results, according to Halk TV which interviewed him on Whatsapp.

“The Turkish people have elected Erdogan as Turkey’s first president/executive president under the new system,” Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said, despite stories such as Turkish police arresting three people after sacks overflowing with sealed ballot papers were found in a car they were driving, adding fuel to speculation today’s election was rigged.[3]

Spokesman Bulent Tezcan of the Republican People’s Party criticised Turkey’s state-run news agency for reporting that Mr Erdogan has won enough to avoid a run-off and accused the agency of distorting the results.

He said “there is a high probability the presidential election will go to a second round”.

The state-run Anadolu news agency has Mr Erdogan leading the race with 52.63 per cent, more than the 50 per cent required to avoid a second round on July 8

While delivering a statement on his own, Erdogan also said that the preliminary results clearly indicated his victory, as over 95 percent of votes were counted. He called for leaving aside the “tensions” of the election period and promised there will be no back paddling on the “success” he achieved.

Today’s polls are the first since Turkey switched to a presidential system of governance after the April 2017 constitutional referendum. The plebiscite effectively split Turkish society in half, as the amendment package passed by a close margin, securing 52 percent of the vote.

As Bloomberg’s Cagan Koc writes, it will complete Turkey’s move from parliamentary democracy to an executive presidential system, in which Erdogan emerges as Turkey’s first all-powerful executive president.

Drastic changes in Turkey’s political system followed a botched coup attempt in July 2016. Erdogan accused his late ally and now nemesis, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, of masterminding the coup. The cleric has firmly rejected the accusations.

Following the failed coup, Turkey has been under a state of emergency for nearly two years and has seen a widespread crackdown on alleged supporters of Gulen. Around 160,000 people have been detained, and thousands of public servants and soldiers have been fired.

Erdogan will become the head of the executive branch with the power to issue decrees with the force of law, prepare the budget subject to parliament’s approval, dissolve parliament on the condition that new elections be held for the presidency and parliament simultaneously, and appoint high-level officials, including ministers and some top judges. He can also continue his crackdown on dissent as he wants.

In other words, Erdogan will have quasi-supreme powers to govern as he sees fit, with few if any checks and balances.

As for the market, it did not need Ince’s concession speech to price in Erdogan’s victory, and in early trading the Turkish Lira was higher by more than 1%, with the USTRY briefly dipping below 4.60 after trading around 4.70 on the prior day

Last month, the Turkish lira hit a record low of 4.92 against the US dollar, forcing the country’s central bank to raise rates to tackle a potential currency crisis. Despite that, Turkey managed to raise 4 billion dollars through a bond sale earlier this year, according to the country’s treasury.

A win for the AKP in both the presidential and parliamentary elections would be the most stable outcome for the economy in the near term.

However, President Erdogan’s comments on monetary policy during the election campaign – advocating lower interest rates and indicating that he would play a more active role in monetary policy – have raised concerns over the future direction of the economy in the event of this outcome.

Erdogan has pledged to deal with rating agency Moody’s following the parliamentary election after the company’s analysts placed Turkey on review for a downgrade.

“God willing, we will conduct an operation against Moody’s after June 24,” Erdogan told the Ankara-based Anadolu Agency. “Moody’s is making unnecessary statements despite the fact that we are not a member of it. What a shame.”

On June 1, the rating agency said that a lack of clarity about Turkish economic policy had put at risk the country’s Ba2 ratings.

The decision was reportedly taken amid “expectation that the recent erosion in investor confidence in Turkey will continue if not addressed through credible policy actions following the June elections.” The agency also said that “the credibility of Turkey’s policy institutions has been undermined by the ineffectiveness of monetary policy, in part reflecting political interference in the policymaking process”.

Meanwhile, one glance at the current state of Turkish stocks, debt, and FX signals the current policies of Endrogan are viewed by investors with considerable concern.

Citations

[1] https://www.rt.com/news/430734-turkey-elections-first-results/
[2] https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-24/turkish-lira-surges-after-erdogan-re-election-optimism-may-be-fleeting
[3] https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/978893/turkey-elections-latest-update-erdogan-Muharrem-Ince-result
[4] https://www.rt.com/business/429757-erdogan-threatens-operation-moodys/

[UntamedParticipant]

OH look! Another psychopath has rigged another currupted system to impose his presence at the head of another puppet-government!
And it’s only his first mandate, ha ha!
Who are the fools going along with that obvious underhanded power grab?
Fools and scared out of their wits, I’d say.

Don't let them Blame, Shame or Tame you!
Give 'em NOTHING, not even an answer!
#GenderSegragationNow!

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