Ekrem Imamoglu had to wait a long time for this moment. 17 days have passed since the municipal election. „I have just picked up my appointment certificate from the Electoral Authority of Istanbul Province,“ he said. „I am happy and proud.“
Imamoglu of the secular Republican People’s Party CHP is the first non-Islamic-conservative mayor of Istanbul for 25 years. Possibly, the 48-year-old will only be mayor for a few days.
The AKP of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has requested that the municipal election in Istanbul be invalidated and repeated. The narrow victory with a wafer-thin margin of less than 0.2 percent could Imamoglu so still be taken.
Allegation by the AKP: Electoral fraud
The mayor is clear: „I accepted my appointment certificate on behalf of all 16 million citizens of the city of Istanbul,“ he said. „In the interests of our citizens, the competent authorities should bring this process to an end as soon as possible and make a clear statement, and our conscience is pure.“
Imamoglu refers to allegations of the losers that it was not right when counting the votes. The AKP had therefore already enforced that invalid votes in several districts were counted, in one even all votes.
In fact, the gap between the two candidates decreased with each passing day. But in the end, ACP candidate Binali Yildirim still lacked 13,000 votes.
Imaloglu’s joy could soon be over
AKP Vice Ali Ihsan Yavuz speaks of electoral fraud. „There are extreme differences between the lists in which the results of each urn are recorded and the final results in some electoral districts,“ he said. „These are not isolated cases, nor coincidence, which was done knowingly and organized.“ He announced that he would file charges for election manipulation. Previously, the CHP had Yavuz and other AKP politicians displayed, including for libel.
Many Istanbulers celebrated their new mayor with honking concerts and singing. The joy could be over quickly. In the next few days, a decision is expected from the highest electoral authority, whether in Istanbul at the request of the AKP actually comes to new elections. The probable election date in this case is June 2nd. A victory of the AKP would be by no means certain. She risks failing for a second time in a row in Istanbul.
