Study and Analysis of Türkiye's 2024 local Elections Results

Document Type : Qualitative Research

Author
A. Valigholizadeh
Associate Professor of Political Geography, University of Maragheh, Iran
Abstract
Introduction

Local elections in Türkiye are held every five years and involve the election of mayors and city council members in large and small cities in Türkiye. Turkish municipal elections are important because they reflect the general attitude of the people; especially in the field of domestic and local issues - economic, social, political, etc. life against political parties that try to exploit the results of local elections in the campaign for political competitions at the national level. In other words, at first glance, we are faced with an ordinary, relatively apolitical election based more on local affiliations, apparent abilities, candidates' field activity records in the municipal field, urban development projects and so on, rather than on party and political affiliations. Nevertheless, Turkish municipal elections are always lively and accompanied by maximum participation and a lot of political swings.



Methodology

This study as a qualitative one attempts to analyze and evaluate the results of Türkiye 2024 local elections and the main reasons affecting them in the political sphere of Türkiye using a descriptive-analytic method and library data collection method.



Results and discussion

2024 local elections in Türkiye highlighted the country's democratic maturity. The outcome of political competition at the ballot box represents another manifestations of democratic consolidation in the country. The Republican People's Party (CHP) ranked first in the elections where received 37.76% of the votes and won 14 metropolitan municipalities and 21 provinces. It is noteworthy that the CHP did not win over additional voters and did not expand its voter base; rather, the turnout rate was significantly lower, and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) appears to have experienced a loss of support. As a result, the number of CHP voters increased by 3.3 million, while the AK Party saw a decline of 4.2 million. There is no doubt that the opposition's "grassroots alliance" strategy was effective in metropolitan areas, as the majority of the Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Democratic Party (DEM Party), and Good Party (IP) supported CHP-affiliated candidates. In addition to consolidating its base, the CHP received strong support from similar-minded parties. The election results suggest that social programs, candidates and responses to economic challenges played a more significant role in voter decision-making than investments and projects of AK. Thus, the CHP succeeded in maintaining the opposition alliance established between 2019 and 2023, albeit with a different approach. In this context, the outreach and mobilization efforts surrounding CHP candidates Ekrem Imamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş effectively connected with the respective bases of aligned political parties.



Conclusions

Local governance, as one of the main sources of local participation in representative democracy, is formed through local elections and represents a democratic mechanism for managing the collective needs of human groups living in a geographical area of ​​a country. Public participation is the main foundation of democracy and can directly affect the quality of democracy at the national level through local governance. Mayors and city councils in Türkiye are recognized as the most prominent symbols of local governance and democracy. Mayors have considerable authority in the political-executive system of this country, and the parties that take control of municipalities have numerous tools and facilities to strengthen their political and social base. Also, given the close ties established in local governance between parties and local residents, reaching the position of mayor, especially in Türkiye 's metropolitan cities, is an important exercise for introducing the country's future politicians. According to the results of the research, various factors were influential in this competitive-political campaign, some of which were socio-economic factors (the realities of citizens' daily lives at the local level), and the other part was the organizational problems and party base of the ruling party and new developments in the opposition, which were influential in the results of these elections; including the important changes in the political sphere of influence and local-national power of parties, as well as the pattern of party relations in the Turkish political sphere.

Keywords

Subjects

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Political Organizing of Space
Volume 6, Issue 4 - Serial Number 24
November 2024
Pages 107-129