Voting ends for presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey

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Ankara, May 14 (HS). Voting for the parliamentary and presidential elections was held on Sunday amid a devastating earthquake, economic crisis and breakdown of the democratic system in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considered to be the biggest challenge in his tenure in the last two decades.

The election results will decide whether Erdogan will remain in office for another five years. It will be the first time in 20 years that Erdogan is trailing rivals in opinion polls.

Opinion polls suggest Kemal Kilikdaroglu, 74, leader of the centre-left, pro-secular Republican People’s Party and joint candidate of the United Opposition Alliance, may have an edge. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes, the top two candidates from the first round will have a decisive contest on May 28. More than 6.4 crore voters including 34 lakh people settled abroad are eligible to vote in this election.

Kilicdaroglu’s six-party national coalition has pledged to end the executive presidential system and return the country to a parliamentary democracy. He has also promised to establish the independence of the judiciary and the central bank, strike a balance, and reverse the restrictions on free speech and dissent under Erdoğan’s rule.