The election for vice president in the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye has begun: Ayşe Ünlüce and Tahir Büyükakın are competing.

The Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB) Assembly convened in Ankara to elect a deputy mayor to replace Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer, who was arrested and suspended from his duty.

The meeting, held in a hotel, started with a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem. At the meeting chaired by TBB 2nd Deputy President Ahmet Önal, Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce and Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Büyükakın announced their candidacies.

After the proposals were read, secret voting took place. Union members started voting in 15 ballot boxes.

THE ELECTION MAY LAST UP TO FOUR ROUNDS

In the TBB Deputy President election, a two-thirds majority of the total number of members will be sought in the first two rounds. If this majority is not reached, a simple majority will be sufficient in the third round.

If no results are obtained in the third round, the fourth round will be held and the candidate with the most votes will be elected vice president.

MEMBERS DISTRIBUTION OF PARTIES IN THE ASSEMBLY

In the TBB Assembly, there are 304 members of the AKP, 261 of the CHP, 131 of the YENİ Party, 57 of the MHP, 56 of the DEM Party, 9 of the Re-Welfare Party and 3 of the İYİ Party.

With CHP's decision to support NEW Party's candidate Ayşe Ünlüce by not nominating a candidate, the total membership strength of the two parties, 392, comes to the fore. While AKP and MHP have a total of 361 members, the choice of 56 members of the DEM Party is considered among the factors that can be decisive in the election.

WHAT HAPPENED?

After Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer, who was serving as the President of TBB, was arrested and suspended from his duty, it was decided to hold a deputy mayor election.

Before the election, NEW Party nominated Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce, while CHP Spokesperson Müslim Sarı announced that his party would not nominate a candidate. The candidate of the People's Alliance was Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tahir Büyükakın.