HDP says it will not have a candidate for Turkish presidential elections

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The alliance led by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) declared on Wednesday that it will not put forward a candidate in the Turkish elections, days after meeting with opposition candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, along with their partners in the Labor and Freedom Alliance made the announcement in a public address in Istanbul.

“We declare to the public that we will not have a candidate running in the presidential elections”, Buldan said, saying it was due to ongoing corruption, issues related to women’s rights, as well as the lack of basic rights and freedom caused by Turkey’s one-man ruling system. 

“We will fulfill our historical responsibility against the one-man rule in the presidential elections,” she continued. 

Buldan said the only way for democratization is by creating a parliament that solves the issues, including the Kurdish question and women’s rights, similar to the statement from their joint presser with Kilicdaroglu on Monday.

Kilicdaroglu, Buldan, and Sancar met on Monday to discuss possible cooperation in the upcoming Turkish elections on May 14, against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

The decision to not have a candidate is perceived as an indication of their support for him in the elections. 

The three had stressed the importance of solving Kurdish-related issues inside the parliament, adding that the “parliament is the go-to address to reach democratic solution for the Kurdish question”.

Erdogan is the presidential candidate of the People’s Alliance between his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has the majority of the current term of parliament.

Kilicdaroglu is the leader of Turkey’s opposition party, Republican People's Party (CHP), and the candidate of the “Nation Alliance” (formerly known as the table of 6).

The pro-Kurdish HDP is hailed by many as the kingmakers in the upcoming elections, despite facing the threat of dissolution from the Turkish constitutional court.

In 2021, Turkey’s chief prosecutor filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court seeking the dissolution of the HDP for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The case is ongoing and the next hearing is set to be on April 11.

The Turkish constitutional court on Wednesday rejected a request by HDP to postpone the hearing until after the presidential elections.