Turkey’s election body has confirmed the outright victory of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in last month’s presidential polls, saying he won almost 52.3 per cent of the vote according to final results.
The publication of the final results kicked off a sequence of events that will culminate on Monday with Erdogan’s swearing-in for a second mandate with enhanced powers.
Erdogan won over 26.3 million votes — 52.59 per cent — in the June 24 elections, the head of the Supreme Election Committee (YSK) Sadi Guven said.
His final percentage was higher than when he was first elected as president in August 2014 with 51.79 per cent of the vote.
The president’s chief rival from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Muharrem Ince, won 30.64 per cent of the vote, Guven told a televised press conference in Ankara.
Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leader Selahattin Demirtas came third on 8.40 per cent and nationalist ex-interior minister Meral Aksener fourth on 7.29 per cent of the vote, according to the YSK figures.
In his second mandate, Erdogan will have expanded powers under an executive presidency after constitutional changes were approved in a referendum last year.
He will also be able to directly appoint top public officials including ministers and one or more vice presidents as the post of premier is removed.
Critics say the new system will lead to one-man rule but Erdogan argues the changes are needed to streamline decision-making and avoid chaotic governments.
Ince conceded defeat but the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) denounced the lack of “equal” conditions for candidates to campaign.
The YSK confirmed Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 295 seats in the parliamentary election held on the same day, falling slightly short of an outright majority.
The new parliament, which will be sworn in on Saturday, has 600 seats, up from 550 under the old system.
But the AKP’s partner, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), won 49 seats, giving the ruling party-led grouping a majority in parliament.
The CHP won 146 seats in the parliament, remaining the main opposition party, while HDP retained its position as the second largest opposition party with 67 seats.
Aksener’s right-wing Iyi (Good) Party will enter parliament for the first time after it was set up in October last year with 43 seats.
