Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who is currently imprisoned in Edirne Prison, discussed the joint candidate debate in his article published on T24. Turkey’s opposition coalition, made up of six parties aiming to defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the upcoming presidential election, have yet to announce a joint presidential candidate but are expected to in the near future. Turkey’s upcoming presidential election is expected to take place in mid-2023.
In his article, the imprisoned former HDP leader made the following assessment: “The year 2023 is a year ripe for change in Turkey. The options are very clear; either democracy will be crowned as the law of the land and continue on its way, or the one-man regime will evolve into a kind of kingdom or sultanate.”
“We will see if the opposition as a whole will be able to face up to this difficult challenge and deliver a democratic victory to the people.
27 parties are entering the election. Five of them are from the ruling bloc, 22 from the opposition. Can most, if not all, of the 22 opposition parties unite around a common candidate, for example, with a 10-point, one-page manifesto for democracy? It would be a tragedy if they didn’t.
Can alliances prepare joint lists in order to produce the highest number of representatives among themselves? It would be a shame if they didn’t do that.
No one will read hundreds, thousands of pages of election manifestos (not to say they are unnecessary), no one will listen to hour-long speeches (these are unnecessary), but the focus of the people will definitely be on the opposition.
The opposition will win by reminding the public of what is at stake, what is being voted on in this election; it will be done by keeping the streets and squares warm and alive, by acting together, and by protecting the ballot box.
Whatever the government does, no matter what tricks it uses, the people have made their decision. What falls to the opposition is to turn this decision of the people into a power of change with unity and determination. History will not look back fondly on an opposition that fails in this duty. There is no need for a miracle to turn the nearly seventy percent electoral power that wants change into victory. On the contrary, it would be a miracle if the opposition lost.”
Demirtaş, a prominent opposition figure in Turkish politics, has been imprisoned on alleged terrorism charges since 2016.
The original of the article appeared on January 3, 2023 on https://medyascope.tv/2023/01/03/demirtas-ortak-adayda-birlesilmezse-trajedi-olur/. Edited for Medyascope English by Leo Kendrick.
