Turkish presidential election: Competition between Erdoğan and rival candidate Kelichdarohlu

Voting for the second round of general elections in Turkey concluded on Sunday. This vote will decide whether longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarian rule will continue or he will be ousted by his main rival, Kemal Kelichdaroglu, who has promised to restore a more democratic society. After the first round of voting in the country on May 14, no candidate could get the necessary majority to win the election. The polling started at eight in the morning.

There are no exit polls in Turkey, but preliminary results are expected within hours of voting closing at 5 p.m. More than six crore 40 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in this election. Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that this is the first presidential election in the history of Turkey in which the second round of voting is being held. Erdoğan praised the high turnout percentage in the first round and said he expected a large number of people to vote again on Sunday.

Kelichdarohlu, a 74-year-old former bureaucrat, described the second round of voting as a referendum on the country’s future. Erdogan has been in power in Turkey for the last 20 years. Erdoğan, who narrowly missed the majority required for victory in the first round of voting, is expected to win the second round. In the first round, Erdoğan was ahead of his rival Kelichdarohlu by four percentage points. Former bureaucrat Kelichdarohlu (74) is the candidate of a coalition of six parties and the centre-left main opposition party. He has termed this election as a referendum on the future of the country.

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