Erdogan officially sets elections for May 14

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday officially set presidential and parliamentary elections for May 14 as he faces an unprecedented challenge from the opposition seeking to end his two-decade rule.

Elections were supposed to take place on June 18, but Erdogan had said he would bring the date forward and did so officially on Friday, signing a presidential decree. 

Erdogan is the presidential candidate of the People’s Alliance between his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which have a majority in the current 600-seat parliament.

Six parties from the opposition have formed the Nation Alliance, also known as the Table of Six. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is their candidate to run against Erdogan.

The opposition alliance has signed a 12-point roadmap outlining how they will restore the parliamentary system and end Erdogan’s one-man rule. Under their plan, the leaders of the other five parties will be Kilicdaroglu’s deputies temporarily until the parliamentary system is restored. The presidency was given sweeping powers in a 2017 constitutional referendum that replaced the parliamentary system with an executive presidency.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is seen as kingmaker, has not joined either of the two alliances but has announced its willingness to make deals with Kilicdaroglu who has said he is going to visit the party to discuss the vote.

Last month’s devastating earthquakes as well as economic woes caused by devaluation of the Turkish lira and inflation are expected to negatively impact Erdogan’s performance in the elections despite promises to compensate victims of the earthquakes that claimed the lives of some 45,000 people in the country.

“Our election agenda will again consist of healing the wounds of the earthquake victims and compensating the economic and social damages of this disaster," he said on Friday, state media reported.