Opposition candidate wins the re-run Istanbul mayoral elections
Istanbulites went to polls in the rerun of the mayoral elections on June 23.
Turkey’s main opposition CHP lead with 54.01% of votes versus 45.10% for President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party in Istanbul’s re-run mayoral election, with nearly 99% of the ballots opened, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday.
Istanbulites went to polls in the rerun of the mayoral elections on June 23.
March 31 local elections saw the city changed hands for the first time in 25 years, however, the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) annulled the opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu’s narrow victory, ruling for a redo of the mayoral race.
Millions in Istanbul went to ballot boxes to cast their votes starting from 8:00 AM local time. At 31,342 ballot boxes across the commercial capital of Turkey, the voting process ended at 5:00 PM local time, consequently, the vote count began.
After YSK lifted the broadcast ban on 7:15 PM local time, the state-run Anadolu Agency shared the results with 97 percent of the votes counted. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate garnered 53,8 percent of the vote while his opponent the AK Party’s Binali Yildirim managed to get 45,2 percent of the votes cast, according to the unofficial results.
Binali Yildirim gave a speech after the initial results, acknowledging his opponent’s win. “I congratulate Mr. Imamoglu. I hope he can serve this city well in the new term,” said Yildirim.
Source: Turkish Minute
