Normalization, municipalities, and early elections

Our country is going through conditions even more severe than those during the War of Independence. Interestingly, despite the worsening economic conditions and the deepening, permanent nature of poverty, the law regarding the culling of stray animals—which was not on the agenda at all—was suddenly placed at the center of public discourse.

If this law is passed, the political power will bear no responsibility. It will be the municipalities that face the public.

In fact, stray animals have begun to share the same fate as our country's people and street children. Our country is practically experiencing a period of capitulations. To break this chain of capitulations and for the economy to develop and recover, breakthroughs must be made.

To remove the economic crisis and poverty from the agenda, we see the education law, constitutional amendments, the culling of living creatures, and presumably, the death penalty law will be brought to the agenda next.

For days, I have emphasized that for local services not to be disrupted, local budgets and the rights of mayors must be respected, and the demands of the local people and the services promised by mayors during the election period must be fulfilled accurately, completely, and on time.

There is an urgent need for an administrative and financial sharing law so that the political power does not wield the financial and administrative power it holds over these mayors like a sword of Damocles. I made this call before the elections.

Both the government and the opposition turned a deaf ear to this call.

Behind the "normalization" operation that has emerged between the government and the opposition, financial burdens have begun to pile up on opposition-led municipalities.

First, local services were obstructed under the guise of austerity measures. Then, the cost of street lighting was transferred to local municipalities at triple the rate. Now, social security and tax debts will be automatically deducted from the shares that municipalities receive regularly every month from the Iller Bank based on their population.

All of these have been the result of this normalization. One must wonder what would have happened if there hadn't been a normalization.

Meanwhile, public banks are not granting loans to opposition municipalities, whereas they used to in the past. As a result of this normalization, they are not providing loans either. Consequently, opposition municipalities will either be unable to provide local services on time or will be unable to provide them at all.

The aftermath will inevitably include accusations of "mud and pothole" municipal management. Ultimately, is there a situation we are unaware of? Have the government and the opposition leader made a deal for a return to the parliamentary system?

If such a deal exists, an early election seems inevitable.