Ruling party to seek new election in Istanbul
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party said it is filing an appeal to cancel the results of the Istanbul mayoral election, citing irregularities, after the vote recount it sought has so far failed to change the outcome that saw it lose its longtime control of Turkey’s biggest city.
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s ruling party wants to void a mayoral election in Istanbul that preliminary results show it lost, claiming Tuesday that irregularities had swayed the outcome and that electoral officials should order a new vote. The presumptive winner warned his opponents that the extraordinary measure would cost the city dearly.
Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) edged former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in the bitterly contested election March 31, but the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has thrown up a series of hurdles since to thwart Imamoglu's apparent victory.
The AKP will argue to the Supreme Electoral Council, a committee of judges that oversees Turkish elections and arbitrates disputes, “that there have been events that directly impacted the outcome of the elections and that we demand the renewal of the election in Istanbul," AKP Deputy Chairman Ali Ihsan Yavuz told reporters.
If the electoral council approves the AKP’s petition, the do-over election would be held June 2.
