Strongmen are not invincible. The stunning news that the Turkish opposition had surged to victory in local elections – as startling to the opposition itself as anyone – is on hold following objections from the ruling AKP. In the coming days, the final results will be announced. Legal proceedings are likely; a concerted media attack on the expression of the democratic will as a “coup at the ballot box”, under malign foreign influence, is already under way.
But whatever happens next, there is no doubt about the blow dealt to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the country’s authoritarian president, after 16 years at the helm. He has asserted the legitimacy of his increasingly repressive rule on the basis of his success at the ballot box. He did more than anyone to inflate the stakes and personalise this contest. He called it a matter of “national survival”, portrayed opponents as traitors and terrorists, and held up to eight rallies a day. Now the public has delivered its verdict. Though the AKP won most votes, the apparent loss of the major cities, on an 84% turnout, has sent the clearest of messages.
Continue reading...from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Il8lMv
via
0 Comments