President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan specified on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 that his government still intends to hold elections a month earlier than scheduled, despite last month’s earthquake that shattered parts of southern Turkey.
In an address to legislators of his ruling party, Erdogan rebuked critics of the government’s handling of the earthquake’s aftermath and said the people would give their response to those critics on May 14, 2023; the election date that his ruling party had tentatively set for before the devastating earthquake struck.
The February 6 earthquake and strong aftershocks that struck Turkey and Syria killed around 50,000 people, with the vast majority in Turkey.
Close to 204,000 buildings either collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
Officials have disclosed that 14 million people were affected by the quake and millions of people have either left or had been evacuated from the quake-stricken region.
The Turkish President did not provide information on how the elections could be organized in the quake zone or say whether displaced survivors would be able to cast ballots in their new locations.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, is seeking a third term in office as President.
The Presidential and general elections, which need to be held no later than June 18, come at a tough time for Erdogan who has seen a decline in his ratings due to skyrocketing inflation.
Erdogan, 68, introduced a system of governance in 2018 that abolished the office of the Prime Minister and concentrated most powers in the hands of the President.
However, the office of the President was largely a ceremonial post before then. Under the new system, presidential and parliamentary elections are held on the same day.
The Presidential system was narrowly approved in a 2017 referendum and took effect after the 2018 elections.
Erdogan conceded to shortcomings in the initial stages of the earthquake response but has blamed them on adverse weather conditions as well as the destruction the earthquake caused to roads and infrastructure.
Erdogan Reiterates Promise To Rebuild Homes
Also on Wednesday, Erdogan reiterated a promise to rebuild more than 400,000 homes within the year.
“We will remove the debris, we will heal the wounds. We will improve on what was destroyed and present a better life for our people.”
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Erdogan also said a so-called National Risk Shield meeting would convene on Friday, March 3, 2023 to review the country’s building stock that do not comply with construction codes.
Experts point to slack enforcement of building codes as a major reason why the quake caused so much destruction.
The World Bank has estimated that the earthquake has caused an estimated $34.2 billion in direct physical damage; the equivalent of 4% of the country’s 2021 gross domestic product.
The World Bank said that recovery and reconstruction costs would be much larger, potentially twice as large, and that GDP losses associated to economic disruptions would also add to the cost of the earthquakes.
The opposition has blamed Turkey’s economic downturn and an erosion of civil rights and freedoms on Erdogan, saying the revised government system amounts to “one-man rule.”
This year’s elections were supposed to take place in June, however, ruling party members said that month would coincide with summer and religious holidays, prompting an earlier date.
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