Saadet Party leader Mahmut Arıkan's 'early election' ultimatum: 'We won't be there on that date'

Saadet Party Chairman Mahmut Arıkan made evaluations regarding the current agenda.

Emphasizing that they will increase field work in the new term as a party, Arıkan said that they will make reaching out to young people a priority.

Arıkan said, "The Saadet Party will focus on field work in the new term. There are 50 thousand neighborhoods and 210 thousand ballot boxes in Turkey. Our provincial organizations are complete, and a significant portion of our district organizations are complete. After we find ways to organize in 50 thousand neighborhoods in the new term, just as the Welfare Party became the first party in the past, there were video cassettes and speeches during the period when Erbakan Hodja was prime minister. We will look for ways to reach our voters by doing whatever can be done in the technology age of 2025."

Touching on the importance of reaching young people, Arıkan said, "As the Saadet Party, we have to reach young people. We will share projects that can revive their lost hopes regarding Turkey." Stating that self-criticism is being carried out within the party, Arıkan noted that they will reflect the results of their work in the field.

"ÜMİT ÖZDAĞ WILL BE RELEASED AT THE FIRST HEARING"

Speaking about the arrest of Victory Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, Arıkan said that legal experts stated that Özdağ would be released at the first hearing. "It is not possible for me to walk the same path politically with Ümit Özdağ. But in terms of democracy and the future of our Turkey, it is not acceptable for a political party leader to be detained during dinner hours, taken to Istanbul in a rush, and then arrested due to events in Kayseri months ago because an arrest would not be issued for the reason he was detained," said Arıkan, expressing that this situation is an indicator that politics in Turkey is not functioning healthily. Arıkan continued his words as follows: "These are one of the arguments that the government uses to persistently silence dissenting voices, showing that politics in Turkey is not functioning correctly. The indictment has been written, and I believe that Ümit Özdağ will be released at the first hearing. Legal experts are already clearly stating this as well. But that person's freedom was restricted for nearly 3 months, and for 3 months, the words he would say on behalf of his party were blocked. If the Republic of Turkey is a state of law and has a constitution, the government must also act according to that Constitution. It is not acceptable to accept practices that are in the government's interest and to silence voices by applying practices that are not in its interest to the opposition."

"THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE"

Touching on the early election debates, Arıkan said that they are ready if there is an early election in 2025 or 2026. However, he emphasized that if an early election comes to the agenda in 2027, they will not participate in it. Arıkan said, "There is a constant debate about 'who will be the opposition's candidate'. The opposition has many candidates; every party leader is a natural candidate anyway. But the issue that should be discussed in Turkey is; who will be the government's presidential candidate? The government has no candidate right now. As the opposition, we say let there be an early election. If there is an early election today, we are in; if there is an early election in 2026, we are in, but the government says 'we will hold an early election in the autumn of 2027'. There is no such thing, I am not in on that. I have waited, I will wait another 6 months, let the election be in May 2028. Who is the candidate of the People's Alliance that should be discussed right now? There is no candidate there. Since there will be no early election, who will be the candidate of the People's Alliance needs to be discussed."

"IT MAKES NO SENSE TO TALK ABOUT CANDIDATES 2 YEARS BEFORE THE ELECTIONS"

Pointing out that there is a long time until the presidential elections, Arıkan stated that candidate debates are meaningless at the moment. "There are 3 years until the elections now. I think presidential candidacy should be discussed close to the elections. The first thing that should be discussed in Turkey today is the justice crisis, the second is the economic crisis, and the events happening in the Middle East in foreign policy. We are not talking about these three in Turkey," he said.

News Source: 12punto