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Former civil servant aims to emerge from Erdogan's shadow
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Election in two months to define economic, foreign policy
(Adds analyst and backer comments, context on opposition
decision)
By Ali Kucukgocmen and Orhan Coskun
ANKARA, March 6 (Reuters) - Turkish opposition leader
Kemal Kilicdaroglu emerged on Monday as the main challenger to
President Tayyip Erdogan in landmark elections expected on May
14, after a six-party alliance picked him as expected as its
presidential candidate.
Kilicdaroglu, 74, head of the country's second-biggest
party, aims to emerge from Erdogan's shadow and oust the
president after a two-decade reign that has transformed the NATO
member country and major emerging market economy.
"Our table is the table of peace. Our only goal is to take
the country to days of prosperity, peace and joy," Kilicdaroglu,
chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), told about
2,000 people gathered in Ankara.
"Will govern Turkey with consultation and consensus."
Polls suggest that the presidential and parliamentary votes
in two months will be tight, with the opposition bloc running
slightly ahead of the governing alliance.
The bloc has vowed to reverse many of Erdogan's policies on
the economy, civil rights and foreign affairs in what many see
as the most consequential election in the republic's 100-year
history.
A former civil servant, Kilicdaroglu could take advantage of
years of economic crisis and soaring inflation, as well as last
month's devastating earthquakes in the south that killed more
than 46,000 people brought criticism of the state's response.
Yet some doubt that the feisty former economist who climbed
the ranks as a corruption-fighter can defeat Erdogan, Turkey's
longest-serving leader whose campaigning charisma has helped
achieve more than a dozen election victories.
Voters will decide not only who leads Turkey but how it is
governed, where its economy is headed and what role it may play
to ease conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East.
ALLIANCE DRAMA Kilicdaroglu's prospects could be boosted by a last-minute deal on Monday to reunite the opposition bloc that had splintered on Friday when the big right-wing IYI Party opposed his candidacy. After a tense 72 hours, the alliance met again on Monday and accepted an IYI proposal that Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas, the popular CHP mayors of Istanbul and Ankara respectively, would later be appointed as vice presidents. Kilicdaroglu, in his speech late on Monday, said the leaders of the other five opposition parties would also serve as vice presidents. Reflecting concerns over Kilicdaroglu's ability to win, IYI leader Meral Aksener had on Friday left the alliance, saying it should choose one of the mayors to take on Erdogan because they would fare better. But she returned on Monday. "This is a massive political coup against Erdogan and should hand the opposition a decisive win in the first round on May 14," said Hakan Akbas, managing director of Strategic Advisory Services, an Istanbul-based political advisory.
HISTORIC VOTE Even before the earthquakes, Erdogan had seen his popularity dip amid a cost-of-living crisis in which inflation soared as high as 85%. But pollsters on Friday said that Erdogan and the AK Party (AKP) appeared to have largely retained their support. Erdogan has never faced a serious electoral threat since his AKP were elected in 2002. Since then he has increasingly shaped Turkey to his vision of a pious, conservative society and assertive regional military power.
The opposition has pledged to revoke the powerful executive presidency he created, returning Turkey to parliamentary democracy and restoring independence to a central bank which implemented his call for low interest rates - driving economic growth but crashing the lira and stoking inflation. The opposition has cooperated more closely since its success in 2019 in taking control of Istanbul, Ankara and other big cities from the AKP in elections. "I am here to witness history in the making," said retired teacher Devlet Kus, who attended the candidacy announcement ceremony.
"Everything will change for the better and our country will be free. Our children will live in a more free and happier country when the opposition wins." (Additional reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu, Ece Toksabay and Huseyin Hayatsever, Humeyra Pamuk and Daren Butler; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Hugh Lawson)
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