SEP Central Committee Statement on Local Elections

 In the 31^st of March elections, the AKP has been slapped harshly. Even though Erdogan says “we are by far the first party”, the loss of the AKP in the three metropolitan cities and in the central cities of  industry, tourism, service sectors and universities shows  that the AKP is the loser of this election. Workers and youth dealed a blow to the absolute one man dictatorship. The polarization policy save AKP from a total destruction since it still has the popularity among the unorganized workers and rural areas. But still, there is fiasco on behalf of the AKP because AKP had  the opportunities of the illegitimate use of  state resources, put enormous pressure on the opposition, the power of the media which is controlled by him, black propaganda. Despite all, the AKP failed. The results of this election are very important.  

We can summarize some of them as follows:

*The results of the elections showed that the idea of the people servilely loyal to the AKP is completely wrong. The hubris of the dictatorship and legitimacy took a major blow. This is very important for the revolutionaries as chronic disappointment among opposition had paralyzed the public backlash and made the things difficult for revolutionary struggle.

Despite the fact that the weakness of its political content, optimism which was brought about by the recession of the AKP will create a positive atmosphere for us. There are strong opportunities to increase the effect of socialists in society. On the other hand, the success of the socialist construction is strictly related to the socialist actors.   Only a party with a  true political program, a dynamic organisation and the program of a united action of the revolutionary left can make a progress. Without those, a real success is impossible.

*MHP got strong against AKP although they ran the elections together (National Alliance) that will destabilize their block. New alliances, new needs, new possibilities will emerge in the bourgeois political arena. As the economic crisis intensifies, the contradiction in the ruling classes will be more visible. This situation will create opportunities for the class struggle.The economic crises and workers’ mobilization AKP-MHP dictatorship cannot be that aggressive against the labourers because of the possibility of  worker actions against crisis.

*Although the CHP achieved a great success in terms of the results, this was due to the lack of an alternative against the AKP dictate, rather than the success of the CHP administration.  In fact, a more detailed analysis of the results tells us another story. Neoliberal policies and bag governmental experiences had led to terrible results in many municipalities that had been already governed by the CHP. Despite the economic crisis and regression of AKP in general, the CHP suffered serious losses in provinces such as Thrace, Muğla, Zonguldak, Giresun etc. Without the deepening economic crisis and the people’s negative attitude towards the AKP dictatorship, it is obvious that the current results would not come true.

* The CHP remains committed to neoliberalism, to the EU, to big capital and to the US, and as such, the CHP can never be an alternative to the laborers. For example, in the face of the intensified economic crisis, will the CHP give struggle against the IMF and its policies it will implement when the AKP has agreement with the IMF? Or will it defend the harmony with international capital and the interests of the bosses? The key positions in the CHP are predominantly in the hands of businessmen and right-wing politicians, and the program is a capitalist one.

* The support of the HDP voters in the success of the CHP in almost every region has played an obvious role. On the other hand, HDP, which determined the results in the west, has apparently failed in Kurdish provinces. This is due to the poor performance of the HDP in municipalities, the effect of the AKP trustees’ performance with all the propaganda and the response to the recent autonomy wars that have marked the whole process.

* The victory of the “Communist Mayor”  Maçoğlu in Dersim is an important opportunity for the socialist politics to reach laborers all around Turkey. We hope that this opportunity will be utilized duly. It is a big question mark that the socialist left in Turkey  hesitated and acted so sectarian about supporting Maçoğlu, who adds enormous prestige to socialist politics and creates opportunities in this sense. These actors have shown that they are not capable of carrying the class struggle forward. It is inevitable that the hostile attitude of HDP and its component organisations against Maçoğlu and the black propaganda they made will leave deep marks in the left politics.

* In the coming period, where the economic crisis will deepen further, the struggle for the payment of the bill of the crisis to the bosses will gain importance. This struggle can only be carried out with the tools of the class struggle. There are no ballot boxes in this struggle. In this issue, regarding millions of laborers’ kitchen, their children’s allowances, house rents, clothing; laborers can only rely on their own actions and socialists. That is why the socialist left has to show itself to the laborers as an alternative. It is of course important that the AKP dictatorship is taken a step back, but our future depends on the success of the struggle for socialism. Otherwise, the oppression may come back and the exploitation will get wilder and wilder. Unless we are organized and empowered, we will be vulnerable to any dark scenario that history will bring before us.