Turkish general election, 1983

Turkish general election, 1983

November 6, 1983
Total of 400 seats of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey 201 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	76.6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Turgut Özal Necdet Calp Turgut Sunalp Party ANAP HP MDP Leader since 20 May 1983 21 May 1983 16 May 1983 Leader's seat İstanbul Ankara İzmir Last election New party New party New party Seats won 211 117 71 Seat change 211 117 71 Popular vote 7,833,148 5,285,804 4,036,970 Percentage 45.14% 30.46% 23.27% Swing 45.14% 30.46% 23.27%
Prime Minister before election Bülent Ulusu (Military rule) Elected Prime Minister Turgut Özal ANAP

General elections were held in Turkey on 6 November 1983, the first since 1977 because the democratic rights were abandoned after the military coup of 1980. The National Security Council banned the previous political parties from participating, leading to the establishment of new parties.^[1] Turgut Özal's Motherland Party (ANAP) won a significant victory in this elections by gaining 45.14% of the votes. This victory was the starting point of a rapid change in the structure of the state and society in Turkey.^[2] Voter turnout was 76.6%.^[3]

The People's Party (HP) was the continuation of the former CHP and was the only left-wing participant in the election. The Nationalist Democracy Party was founded by the military junta of the time, whilst the Motherland Party was seen as the successor of the Justice Party (AP) by some circles but Süleyman Demirel, the leader of AP, would later form the DYP to challenge the power of Turgut Özal's Motherland Party.

Results

18,238,362 votes were cast in all, of which 886,852 (4.86%) were blank or spoiled. Owing to a registration error in the town of Bingöl, ANAP were unable to take one of the seats they had won there, lowering the total number of MPs in the chamber to 399.

References