MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Amed- People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) held primary elections from January 13 to 14 to determine its candidates for the upcoming local elections that will be held on March 31, 2024 in Turkey. Through primary elections, people determined their co-mayors, who would govern their cities.

NuJINHA spoke to People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Erzurum MP Meral Danış Beştaş about the primary elections and the upcoming local elections.

 ‘We held primary elections so that people determined our candidates’

We determined our candidates through primary elections that will serve as a model for world politics, said Meral Danış Beştaş. The DEM party will field candidates in Kurdish cities and in the western cities. “We held primary elections, where our party is the first or second party, so that people determined our candidates for the upcoming elections. In the coming days, we will announce that we will field candidates in other cities. The aim of the DEM Party was to learn the demands of our people by holding primary elections.”

‘The thing that matters is the demands and suggestions of society’

DEM party’s candidates that will run for the local elections were not determined by the DEM Party because “The thing that matters is the demands and suggestions of society. DEM Party is a political party aiming to win the elections. As the party, people and women, we aim to win the elections.”

Electoral fraud

The AKP is losing power in the region day by day, Meral Danış Beştaş said, emphasizing that the AKP has staged electoral fraud to win in the region. Meral Danış Beştaş stated that they followed the issue closely and started a legal process about electoral fraud.

“About 5,000 fake electors have been registered in the region. This electoral fraud has become a systematic practice in the region. The aim of this electoral fraud is to prevent people from governing themselves with their own will. This situation is against political ethics and election law. Our people should not feel depressed; they did the same thing before. Despite that, we won. We will win again. We should pull out all the stops.”