Turkish general election, 2002
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Turkey's 15th general election was held two years early on Sunday 3 November 2002, following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was won by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), headed by the current Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with a crushing majority in spite of their winning just 34.3% of the national vote. All parties previously in parliament, except the AKP, failed to win enough votes to re-enter the Grand National Assembly. The only other party to cross the 10 percent election barrier and win representation in the parliament was the Republican People's Party, (CHP) which made its triumphant return after being voted out three years previously. The election produced Turkey's first single party government since 1987 and the country's first two-party parliament in 48 years.
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[edit] Results
Voting ended in the country's 32 eastern provinces at 3pm, having begun an hour earlier, and in the remaining 49 provinces at 4pm. Counting began immediately afterwards.
A press black-out was placed on all results by the electoral authority so that it could ensure all ballot boxes were secure, but even when it became clear that every box in the country had been sealed, the authority refused to sway from its original deadline of 9pm. With early results being already announced by foreign media outlets, Turkish television switched to a live shot of the Electoral Authorty headquarters until an announcement was made at 7.30pm revoking the black-out.
[edit] Total votes and seats for each party
| Parties | Votes | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | +− % | No. | +− | ||
| Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) | 10,762,131 | 34.28 | +18.89 | 363 | +252 | |
| Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) | 6,090,883 | 19.4 | +10.69 | 178 | +178 | |
| True Path Party (Doğru Yol Partisi) | 2,999,528 | 9.55 | -2.46 | 0 | -85 | |
| Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi) | 2,619,450 | 8.34 | -9.64 | 0 | -129 | |
| Youth Party (Genç Parti) | 2,276,271 | 7.25 | 0 | |||
| Democratic People's Party (Demokratik Halk Partisi) | 1,955,298 | 6.23 | +1.48 | 0 | +0 | |
| Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi) | 1,609,736 | 5.13 | -8.09 | 0 | -86 | |
| Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi) | 778,786 | 2.48 | -12.93 | 0 | -111 | |
| Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti) | 382,810 | 1.22 | -20.97 | 0 | -136 | |
| New Turkey Party (Yeni Türkiye Partisi) | 361,284 | 1.15 | 0 | |||
| Great Union Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi) | 321,046 | 1.02 | 0 | |||
| Homeland Party (Yurt Partisi) | 294,560 | 0.94 | 0 | |||
| Workers Party (İşçi Partisi) | 161,563 | 0.51 | 0 | |||
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Independent Turkey Party (Bağımsız Türkiye Partisi) | 150,385 | 0.48 | 0 | ||
| Freedom and Solidarity Party (Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi) | 105,886 | 0.34 | 0 | |||
| Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Demokrat Parti) | 90,119 | 0.29 | 0 | |||
| National Party (Millet Partisi) | 68,577 | 0.22 | 0 | |||
| Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi) | 59,994 | 0.19 | 0 | |||
| Independents | 310,145 | 0.99 | 9 | +6 | ||
| No. of valid votes | 31,398,452 | 100,00 | 550 | 0 | ||
| Invalid votes | 1,262,671 | |||||
| Electorate size | 41,333,105 | |||||
| Voter turnout | 79.00% | |||||
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[edit] Interpretation
The election was widely interpreted as a protest vote against the corruption-riddled traditional forces of Turkish politics. It reflected the soaring popularity of the AKP, established barely a yearly before, and prompted a number of established party leaders to resign.
[edit] Effects
[edit] New government
Although the AKP's victory was indisputable, Erdoğan's appointment as prime minister was delayed elections owing to his previous criminal conviction, which prevented him from standing for parliament. Another promiment party member, Abdullah Gül, became prime minister and remained in the position until a constitutional amendment could be pushed through to allow Erdoğan to stand for a freshly vacant seat in a March 2003 by-election.
[edit] Party resignations
The result prompted the near-immediate resignations of several prominent figures in Turkish politics:
- Mesut Yilmaz, former prime minister and leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP). Has since returned to active politics in the Motherland Party, but it rumoured to be planning a new party of his own.
- Tansu Çiller, former prime minister and leader of the True Path Party (DYP). Was suceeded by her former interior minister, Mehmet Ağar.
- Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and senior coalition partner in the outgoing government. His resignation was not accepted by his party's central committee, and he remained leader.
Outgoing prime minister Bülent Ecevit was widely expected to resign as leader of his Democratic Left party, but did not end up leaving until a party conference in 2004.
