Turkey’s presidential elections yesterday headed for a runoff, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pulling ahead of his chief challenger, but falling short of an outright victory that would extend his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade.
The vote was being closely watched to see if the strategically located NATO country remains under Erdogan’s firm grip or can embark on a more democratic course envisioned by his main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
While Erdogan has governed for 20 years, opinion polls had suggested that run could be coming to an end amid economic turmoil, a cost-of-living crisis and criticism over the government’s response to a February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people.
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With 99.87 percent of the domestic votes and 84 percent of the overseas votes counted, Erdogan had 49.5 percent of the votes, while Kilicdaroglu had 44.8 percent, figures from the Supreme Electoral Board showed.
A third candidate, nationalist politician Sinan Ogan, received 5.2 percent.
Erdogan, 69, told supporters in the early hours yesterday that he could still win, but added that he would respect the nation’s decision if the race went to a runoff on May 28 — a vote that might favor him since his alliance looked set to retain its majority in parliament.
Opinion polls in the runup to Sunday’s vote had given Kilicdaroglu, the joint candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, a slight lead over Erdogan, who has governed Turkey as either prime minister or president since 2003.
Kilicdaroglu sounded hopeful for a second-round victory.
“We will absolutely win the second round ... and bring democracy,” said Kilicdaroglu, 74, adding that Erdogan had lost the trust of a nation now demanding change.
Ogan has not said whom he would endorse if the elections go to a second round.
The election results showed that the alliance led by Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party looked like it would keep its majority in the 600-seat parliament, although the assembly has lost much of its legislative power after a referendum to change the nation’s system of governance to an executive presidency narrowly passed in 2017.
Anadolu news agency said Erdogan’s ruling party alliance was hovering at 49.3 percent, while Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance had 35.2 percent and support for a pro-Kurdish party stood above 10 percent.
The fact that Erdogan appears to have held on to his majority increases his chances of winning a second-round vote, with more voters likely to support Erdogan to avoid a split government.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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