The Public – Local Elections – Parties – Rent-Seeking and Mayoral Candidates

While the Turkish economy is experiencing the most severe crisis in the history of the republic, political parties have dedicated themselves to the local elections. The understanding of who works harder in local elections, who implements the party's principles locally, and who grows the party and the locality has been replaced by: political corruption and rent-seeking activities in the selection of mayoral candidates have become dominant. For this reason, having been a party member for years and having served the party and, consequently, the public, ultimately means nothing.

It does not matter at all that you know local policies very well in local elections. For this reason, with only three months left until the local elections, parties have neither macro nor micro projects or manifestos; if they do exist, they have not yet been announced.

If the public has started selling their wedding rings due to great poverty, and if the crisis is burning and destroying every household, the parties that remain spectators are as responsible for this situation as the government.

I would like to briefly summarize the reasons for what I have said.

Let's take a brief look at the Turkish economy:

• High inflation,

• High stagflation,

• High taxes,

• High price hikes,

• High price increases,

• High unemployment,

• High poverty,

• High corruption,

• High urban poverty,

• Lack of discipline in public finance,

• Waste and corruption in public spending,

• Unfair distribution of the tax burden,

• Inequality in income distribution,

• Inefficiency in resource allocation.

Now I ask the government and the opposition parties: How will you solve these problems on a macro and local basis? Do you have a program?

Let's take a brief look at the local elections:

• How will you solve rent-seeking and corruption in local elections?

• In the candidate selection process, how will you determine not who will manage the city, but whether rent will be distributed in the elections?

• Political cronyism

• Political myopia

• Fiscal illusion

In other words, will you ensure that it is realized that when public spending is increased on a central and local basis, this expenditure will come out of the public's pocket?

-Will you explain to the public the issue of the financing of politics and elections, that is, how you do this?

Will you explain to the public the failure of the state and politics; that because the cost of financing politics is high, you make some unqualified, rent-rich individuals managers or mayoral candidates instead of qualified, intellectual, and knowledgeable people?