Turkey’s Supreme Election Board (YSK) convened on Monday for a critical session to decide whether to hold a new election in İstanbul due to claims by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of election fraud in polls held on March 31.
Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) mayoral candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu won the election in İstanbul against the AKP’s candidate, Binali Yıldırım; however, İmamoğlu was not given the mandate to govern until April 17 because the AKP objected to the election results, asking for a recount of votes in many İstanbul districts.
Even after İmamoğlu officially began his tenure, the AKP was still trying to secure cancellation of the İstanbul vote through an application to the YSK, which is expected to make a decision today.
As the YSK was about to make a decision, CHP spokesperson Faik Öztrak told reporters following a party meeting that he expects the YSK not to be party to a “massacre of the law.”
The YSK has come under intense pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is also the leader of the AKP, who on many occasions said there was controversy surrounding the İstanbul vote and that the YSK should clear it up.
Erdoğan also said last week that he was a hundred percent sure that his party will win if the election is held again in İstanbul.