Elections and the economy

Although the upcoming local elections concern local administrations, the government's expectations are quite different; specifically, the ruling front intends to strengthen itself through electoral success, and particularly by winning the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, it plans to draft a new and, in all likelihood, reactionary constitution. This is because, before suppressing the increasingly strained economy with police force, the ruling front is attempting to fulfill—or in this final period, complete—the tasks assigned to it by world imperialism by condemning the public to resignation through religious, reactionary patterns.

As we head to the elections, the government's burden includes high inflation, interest rates that are inevitably being raised and will continue to be raised until they catch up with inflation, a high stock of external and internal debt, and the problem of a current account deficit that tends to rise continuously, alongside the resulting deterioration in income distribution and rising poverty. The ruling group, which acts almost like an opposition party while heading into the elections, is attempting to criticize the 4-year performance in Istanbul while ignoring its own nearly 25-year total period in power, including the term of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. It is sensed that the ruling coalition's program for the future also consists of high interest rates and a suppressed wage policy. This means that the deterioration in income distribution will continue and will likely worsen. The meager aid provided to retirees as election bait will also be cut off once there are no more elections in the new period. 

So, what is the ruling front basing its optimism about the economy on in the new period? Here, we encounter the same old story. It is hoped that if the Turkish Lira remains valuable and currency fluctuations can be prevented, foreign investors might come. Thus, despite the designed positive general picture, if we look at human relations in the functioning of the economy, it is planned that the system will be built upon intense labor exploitation under the pressure of foreign capital in cooperation with domestic capital. Despite this, it appears that the planned project will not solve anything in the short term, will tie the economy even more intensely to the imperialist world, and consequently, national politics will become significantly more difficult.

While interest rate hikes after the election are expected to accelerate the inflow of foreign resources, the appreciation of the lira as a result of interest rate hikes will cause the terms of trade to work against us, leading to negative effects on both imports and exports. A slowdown in imports curbs the current account deficit; this is positive. However, a slowdown in exports has an effect that increases the current account deficit. In a slowed-down economy, unemployment will most likely rise and wages will be suppressed. The further spread of unemployment is a political problem, but this situation is to the advantage of capital. Because in a state of high unemployment, the demands of the working class are also suppressed. Once interest rates rise, the currency-protected deposit scheme can be terminated; it is already being gradually reduced in parallel with interest rate hikes. In short, the entire cost of putting the economy on track will be loaded onto the working class. Indeed, statements are in this direction. It appears that wage increases will be made once a year and according to the state's expected inflation rate. The issue of salaries eroded by past inflation will be endured. According to this picture, the main framework of the project intended to be implemented is an IMF-like program. The working class must think more seriously by adding bank interest to their heavy exploitation burdens and make their political choices accordingly.

Turkey's problems are not superficial. Yet, instead of producing projects and making efforts toward sufficient production to get the economy on a slightly better footing, why we are forced to resort to external resources has never been thought about, except during the founding period of the Republic, and in my opinion, it is not being thought about today either. It brings us relief that interest rates in the US will not be raised and will be kept stable, but it does not even cross our minds that this is a form of interest exploitation. While we are shaken by the troubles we are buried in, and as the economy gradually worsens and our people become impoverished, we cannot question the politicians; instead, we drift into meaningless debates and play into the hands of the imperialists who come to exploit us. I truly cannot understand why it is so difficult to understand imperialism, which seeks to make societies captured from within slaves to itself rather than to their Creator!

Our working people pin their hopes on labor strikes, and our retirees hope for their situation to be improved through pleas to the government. Every segment of our people must know that neither labor strikes nor begging the government will benefit this segment. The very clear reason for this is that the government is pro-capital. Indeed, as we head into another election, the ruling front is making generous promises to some who are holding out their hands. The working class and retirees should know that what is given before the election is almost entirely taken back after the election, and promises made before the election are forgotten after the election by the political cadre that acts as the political extension of capital. We must firmly embed this in our memory: Bourgeois governments are inevitably on the side of capital, not the labor that produces. If this is the situation, the working class and retirees have an extremely suitable and highly favorable tool of struggle before them that carries no risk elements. That tool of struggle is for retirees and the working class to show their political decisions and preferences very clearly to the political cadre. If the political cadre sees the working class and retiree segments as “a sure thing” while seeing the capital segment as conscious, it will naturally make all its choices in line with the logic of the system, in favor of capital, just as it did yesterday.