Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) applied to the Supreme Election Board (YSK) on Wednesday asking for cancellation of the general and presidential elections held on June 24, 2018 based on a recent YSK ruling.
In a controversial decision on Monday, the YSK decided to re-run the mayoral election in İstanbul, which was won by the CHP candidate on March 31.
The YSK made its 7-4 decision due to allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost the race by a razor-thin margin in İstanbul.
The YSK’s decision, which was based on the assignment of polling station officials who were not public servants as stipulated by law, came after a number of objections filed by the AKP.
In its application to the YSK on Wednesday, the CHP said the general and presidential elections held on June 24, 2018 in which the AKP and Erdoğan emerged as winners should also cancelled under the same logic.
Speaking to reporters after filing his party’s application at the YSK, CHP deputy chairperson Muharrem Erkek said: “If this decision of yours is right, if you are behind your decision, then you have to cancel the June 24 elections as well. You need to cancel the mandate of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”
Erdoğan was elected president for a second term in the June 24 elections, while his AKP garnered some 42 percent of the nationwide vote.
Erkek said the same polling station officials were on duty during the June 24 elections.
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.
Failing to get the result it desired, the AKP later applied to the YSK asking for the cancellation of the İstanbul mayoral election.
