Who will sit on TBB's 'seat of fire'?

CHP, which won the March 31, 2024 Local Elections and took control of the majority of municipalities, also gained the majority in the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB). After the election victory, CHP faced the government's investigations and operations against opposition municipalities. Many mayors were arrested and suspended from office.

While the number of municipalities under opposition administration decreased, the situation was also reflected in BAT. The process, which started with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and Özgür Özel CHP Presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu becoming the president, continued with the election of Adana Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Zeydan Karalar as the deputy mayor after İmamoğlu's arrest.

As a result of Karalar's arrest and dismissal, Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer took office. Seçer was later elected at the ordinary general assembly and was elected as the chairman. With the arrest of Seçer, the chairmanship of TBB became vacant again. The vice presidential election will be held at a hotel in Ankara on October 15 at 14.30.

BALANCES HAVE CHANGED

In the elections held so far, CHP candidates in TBB have won the election comfortably. Vahap Seçer was elected to office by receiving the votes of 446 council members in the presidential election held in May. The candidate of the People's Alliance, Kahramanmaraş Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fırat Görgel, received 311 votes. In the current situation, after the absolute nullity, the balances have changed as a result of the division of the opposition front into CHP and NEW Party, operations and party changes.

In the TBB Assembly, there are 304 members of the AKP, 261 of the CHP, 131 of the New Party, 57 of the MHP, 56 of the DEM Party, 9 of the Re-Welfare Party and 3 of the İYİ Party. If CHP and NEW Party nominate a common candidate in the elections, they will have 392 votes. The People's Alliance, on the other hand, lags behind the opposition bloc with 361 votes. For this reason, a possible CHP and NEW Party alliance is seen as the main factor that will affect the outcome of the election. The votes of the minority 68 council members, mainly from the DEM Party, will be another factor that will affect the outcome of the election.

CHP AND NEW PARTY ALLIANCE REMAIN UNCERTAINTY

The People's Alliance has determined its candidate for the TBB elections as Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Büyükakın. The candidates of CHP and YENİ Party have not been announced yet. A possible election alliance between the CHP and the NEW Party, which is seen as the main factor that will affect the outcome of the elections, remains uncertain in the light of the current speeches of the politicians. CHP Spokesperson and Deputy Chairman Responsible for Local Governments Müslim Sarı, in his recent statement, called on the YENİ Party and DEM Party to unite for the TBB elections.

Sarı said, "The difference is decreasing day by day. (vote difference between the opposition and the People's Alliance) There is a need for more cooperation every day. There is a need to act together. We must act together. We must leave the differences aside. The Union of Municipalities should not move to the AKP or the People's Alliance. It should remain in opposition. Essentially, it should remain in the CHP. For this, I would like to declare that we, as the CHP, are ready for all kinds of cooperation and sacrifice."

In his speech the other day, NEW Party Spokesperson Zeynel Emre, who was distant from CHP's call for alliance for the TBB elections, said, "We cannot have any cooperation with the mentality that cooperates with the palace, ignores the elected will, and comes to power through a process without a congress, that is, the nullity. The party may have been occupied, but the grassroots opposition has not been divided." Emre also stated that they have not yet determined an official candidate for TBB.