According to veteran political affairs correspondent Mr Fikret Bila, Erdogan government aims to put CHP municipalities in a two-way clamp to reduce their popularity sand to deprive them of financial resources to deliver social services.
On one hand, Erdogan wants to pit the public against CHP municipalities with the law on “culling” stray animals. On the other hand, the administration aims to collect the debts of CHP municipalities, including those newly taken over from the AK Party, by deducting them from the share of local governments allocated from the central budget, thus leaving them without resources to provide adequate services.
The success of CHP in local governments is obvious. The services provided by CHP in 11 major cities, including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, which it won in the 2019 Local Elections, were appreciated by the public. Successful municipal governance was reflected to the ballot box in the local elections of March 31, 2024, when CHP became the first party by winning many mayoralties held by the AK Party, including 14 big cities. AK Party fell to the second party position for the first time.
The success of the CHP in the local elections increased the expectation that it would win the next general election; ending Erdogan’s two-decade long rule. Seeing that the CHP was gaining strength locally and marching towards power, the government took action to prevent this march and render the CHP municipalities incapable of providing services.
Erdogan is trying to pressure the CHP with the law on killing stray animals that he sent to the Parliament. The law that gives municipalities the responsibility of killing stray animals also includes a provision that stipulates that mayors who will not implement this law will be sent to prison.
If the bill on killing stray animals becomes law in its current form, it will be the job of municipalities to collect and kill the animals. CHP municipalities have already announced that they will not implement this law even if it is passed. When the law comes into force, if CHP municipalities resist, the government will file lawsuits against CHP mayors. The crowd that defends the killing of animals will be against the CHP, raising social frictions. If municipalities implement the law, collect and kills animals, this time CHP will face a much larger mass of people who are against animal slaughter.
Of course, the government will put pressure on CHP municipalities to implement the law. It is possible to witness the Ministry of Interior appointing trustees to the municipalities CHP holds because “they do not enforce the law”.
President Tayyip Erdoğan also announced the government’s other plan to block CHP municipalities. He said that the Ministry of Treasury and Finance will start collecting the debts of CHP municipalities at source. This means not transferring the Treasury aid that the Ministry of Treasury and Finance has to transfer to the municipalities, and leaving the municipalities penniless.
However, CHP has just taken over most of these debts from AK Party municipalities. Let’s look at how much debt burden CHP inherited from AK Party in the municipalities it won in the Local Elections of March 31, 2024. According to the table released by CHP, some examples of the debt the municipalities inherited from AK Party by CHP successors are as follows:
Bursa Metropolitan Municipality: 23 billion lira.
Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality: 14 billion lira.
Denizli Metropolitan Municipality: 11 billion lira.
Kütahya Municipality: 1 billion 700 million lira.
Zonguldak Municipality: 1 billion 200 million lira.
Afyonkarahisar Municipality: 1 billion 500 million lira.
Giresun Municipality: 1 billion 800 million lira.
Istanbul Sancaktepe Municipality: 2 billion lira.
Istanbul Beykoz Municipality: 3 billion 500 million lira.
Those who incurred these debts were AK Party mayors. The government, which did not go after debt arrears while these municipalities were under the control of the AK Party, suddenly swung into action when the municipalities were transferred to the CHP.
It is clear that the government aims to leave CHP municipalities without resources and render them unable to provide services, thus aiming to weaken the CHP’s hand in the next general elections. The government does not care if its citizens go without essential services.
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