MHP leader rules out early polls, rejects CHP calls

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli has brushed aside the main opposition’s calls for early elections, saying the election timeline is well known, referring to May 2028.

“The [Republican People’s Party] CHP leader’s insistence on early elections and his futile appeals to me are sheer political folly,” Bahçeli said, in his address to the MHP parliamentary group on Feb. 3.

Bahçeli responded to CHP Chair Özgür Özel, who called on the MHP leader to support the opposition’s initiative for early elections, given the increasing social discontent due to poor economic governance.

“It is known when the elections will be held. There is no such thing as early polls and will never be,” Bahçeli stated.

Under normal circumstances, Türkiye is scheduled to hold its presidential and parliamentary elections in May 2028.

Bahçeli highlighted that, as part of the People’s Alliance with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the MHP is wholly committed to realizing the “Century of Türkiye” vision.

The MHP will never resort to early polls, Bahçeli said, vowing that the CHP and its corrupt affiliates will get what they deserve at the ballot box, citing the continuing legal proceedings against various opposition mayors, including Istanbul’s Ekrem İmamoğlu, detained since March last year.