The balance of local politics may change

AYŞEGÜL KAHVECİOĞLU - While the AK Party's draft study, which aims to strengthen transparency and control in municipalities and reorganize the financial structure, is being discussed in the party lobbies, MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli's proposal of "19 new provinces and 78 new districts" brought to the agenda the possibility of a radical restructuring that could change Türkiye's administrative map and the balance of power in local politics. Backstage, attention is drawn to the impact of the proposal, which Bahçeli associates with the "Terror-Free Türkiye" process, on the administrative borders of the metropolitan cities of Diyarbakır, Van and Mardin, which the DEM Party won in the 2024 local elections.

The local government reform, which the AK Party has been working on for a while, covers a wide range of areas, from the financial structure of municipalities to control mechanisms, from zoning and planning processes to the participation of citizens in local decision-making mechanisms. In the draft presented to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the last MKYK meeting, topics such as more comprehensive auditing of municipalities' borrowing, expenditure, risk management and performance processes, and strengthening financial audit and sanction mechanisms stand out.

It will be presented to Erdoğan and Bahçeli

Within the scope of the negotiations between the two parties, it is expected that the study prepared by the AK Party will be given its final form in line with the views and suggestions of the MHP. After the reform draft is presented to President Erdoğan and MHP Leader Bahçeli, it is planned to be brought to the agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.