Countdown started for June 2023 polls: Erdoğan

The countdown for the parliamentary and presidential election slated for June 2023 has started as there is only one year to go, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, repeating his calls to the main opposition leader to either announce his candidacy or his candidate for the presidency.

"We can say that the countdown for the 2023 polls has started. Despite the fact that the opposition calls for early polls, the election date is set [according to the law]. In fact, the opposition does not want early polls, and they even don't want elections to happen at all, as they are used to doing politics without shouldering any responsibility," Erdoğan said at his Justice and Development Party (AKP) group meeting on June 15. He vowed that the ruling alliance would win another victory in the next year's polls.

Turkey, which holds polls every five years, held the latest presidential and parliamentary polls on June 24, 2018.

Criticizing the opposition-led Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir mayors for failing to take necessary actions and measures against the heavy rain and flood disasters, Erdoğan stressed that even this incident shows that the six-party opposition alliance is not able to govern the country.

"Those who cannot yet announce who will be their presidential candidate cannot have an appetite to serve the people. They say they will announce their candidate once the election is set. The election date is well known, it is June 2023. Why don't you announce your candidate?" he asked.

The opposition says they don't announce the candidate in order to save him or her from being tarnished in the eyes of public opinion, Erdoğan stated, asking, "What kind of a candidate is this that his name will be tarnished once announced as a candidate?"

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