A new vote for the deputy mayor position at Üsküdar Municipality will be held today. Following the death of Deputy Mayor Dündar Ziya Gültekin in a traffic accident on October 15, the Üsküdar Municipal Council will convene at 10:00 to determine the new deputy mayor.
Gültekin had been involved in an accident on the Düzce section of the Anatolian Motorway while traveling to Ankara to attend the Union of Municipalities of Turkey deputy mayoral elections. The vehicle Gültekin was in collided with a car traveling in the same direction; Gültekin, who was seriously injured, could not be saved at the hospital where he was taken. Four people also sustained minor injuries in the accident.
The Istanbul Governor's Office had announced that a deputy mayoral election would be held at Üsküdar Municipality following Gültekin's death. Today's vote will clarify who will assume the deputy mayoral role in the municipal administration.
CHP AND YENI PARTY TO FIELD SEPARATE CANDIDATES
Spokesperson for the CHP, Müslim Sarı, announced in a statement regarding the Üsküdar Deputy Mayor election that both the CHP and the YENI Party would field candidates.
AKP AND MHP CANDIDATE ANNOUNCED
The People's Alliance candidate was also determined ahead of the election. AKP İstanbul Provincial Chair Abdullah Özdemir announced that Muhammed Emin Sarıoğlu had been selected as the joint candidate for the AKP and MHP groups.
WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE PROCESS?
Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was arrested on July 31 as part of an investigation conducted against her and was suspended from her duties by the Ministry of Interior on August 1. It was stated that the investigation was being conducted over accusations of "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes, bribery, and extortion."
Following this development, in the first deputy mayoral election held in the Municipal Council, CHP candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya was elected by a four-vote margin. 28 council members from the CHP and 17 from the People's Alliance participated in the vote.
The AKP had applied to the judiciary with allegations of irregularities regarding the vote count and the election process. In the subsequent election, People's Alliance candidate Dündar Ziya Gültekin received 23 votes, while the CHP and YENI Party candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya received 19 votes. With Gültekin's election after the four-round vote, the deputy mayoralty at Üsküdar Municipality had passed to the AKP.
Following Gültekin's death, the election process began again in the municipal council. The vote to be held today will be the third deputy mayoral election conducted at Üsküdar Municipality in a short time.
News Source: 12punto
