Several generations have grown up since the AK Party was founded; in two years, the party will have been in politics for a quarter of a century. If the general elections are held on time, in three years, it will have spent a quarter of a century in power as well.
An old party and an old government…
No other party in our country has reached power a year after its founding.
Nor do we have any party that has managed to stay in power for 22 years.
In no country that claims to be democratic can governments stay in power for long.
The AK Party has achieved this in Turkish political life.
The old party and its cadres have been showing the fatigue of many years for some time now…
The expectation of change, voiced by those who support the government after the March 31 local election defeat, has not been met even though five months have passed.
The disappointment became quite evident during and after the AK Party’s 23rd-anniversary celebrations.
President Tayyip Erdoğan, who is also the AK Party’s leader, was expected to lead the change. He was supposed to dismiss the ministers and party officials who had a share in the election defeat and replace them with new names who would succeed.
Wasn’t it the case that even strong mayors had to leave their posts under the pretext of ‘metal fatigue’ in the past?
The past is now in the past.
Instead of directly intervening with effective measures, President Erdoğan wants those he has appointed to step aside voluntarily.
I was utterly surprised when I listened to the part of his speech, delivered on the occasion of the 23rd-anniversary celebrations, where he read this passage.
How will this happen? Is it expected that ministers or those in the provincial, district, and central management of the party will individually submit their resignations, saying, “I have lost my enthusiasm, I do not want to be an obstacle to service and a hindrance to work, so I am leaving my seat”?
That would take a long time.
President Erdoğan also has expectations from bureaucrats; they too are expected to “continue working with diligence, enthusiasm, and dynamism, increasing both performance and quality…”
Most recently, the bureaucrats were tested in dealing with the fires that broke out in provinces with valuable forests in the country…
They were tested and failed…
What can be expected from bureaucrats who are the product of an evaluation system that does not prioritize merit?
For a long time, the prevailing understanding in the bureaucracy has not been to be successful but to appear successful…
All the appointment decrees for ministers and senior bureaucrats who have been assigned to their posts over the last ten years bear the signature of President Erdoğan.
He has already changed those he was not satisfied with over time…
I’ve lost count of how many times the heads of the Central Bank and TÜİK have changed.
It seems that Tayyip Erdoğan, from whom fundamental changes are expected to restore the AK Party to its former success and keep it in power for a while longer—perhaps in the minds of many, indefinitely—is not in a position to make that happen.
Is it because of the ‘People’s Alliance’ partner MHP?
Honestly, I don’t know.
The current situation seems to have seeped into Erdoğan’s rhetoric as well.
Even when he was Prime Minister, he would refer to ministers as “my minister” and to bureaucrats as “my general director.” Now, he possesses tremendous power thanks to the changes brought by the ‘presidential government system’; however, he seems to have abandoned his old rhetoric.
When was the last time you heard him say “my minister”?
The extraordinary duties and responsibilities imposed by the new system may have tired President Erdoğan…
There are countless developments both domestically and internationally that concern our country and its people.
There are local and foreign experts who diagnose the economy with ‘stagflation.’
The U.S., Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel… Due to the issues with each of these countries, a balance in foreign policy cannot be established.
Schools are opening, and students and families are facing the dilemmas of education.
The President is tired…
He also holds the title and duty of AK Party leader; this adds to his fatigue.
Solution?
He will find the solution.
He could take the country to early elections, or he could consider letting go off his chairmanship in the party. He might even attempt to change the system once again, which has made himself and his party dependent on the MHP.
At this point in the article, the song ‘Something Must Be Done’ by the band Moğollar came to mind, so I’ll end with it:
“I was in a deep sleep / I woke up to your voice / I was drenched in sweat / Sleep didn’t come.”
ΩΩΩΩ
[The translation of the article is by ChatGPT with some minor modifications.]
