Six members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) submitted their resignation just a week before June 24 elections due to the pressure on them, claimed Haluk Pekşen, an MP of parliamentary main opposition party CHP.
In a statement to local media, Pekşen argued that according to “some solid information” he got, resignation demands of 6 YSK members “had been accepted only to be put into effect after the elections.” Pekşen added that the EU Parliament and YSK had a meeting recently and only 4 YSK members attended the meeting, excluding the YSK chair and 6 other members. Pekşen asked, “Is it true that 6 YSK members demanded their resignation and yet their resignation process was postponed to the post-election period with pressure?”
YSK has 11 members, 6 of which are from the Supreme Court of Turkey, and 5 from the Council of State. The term of office of YSK chair Sadi Güven, the member from the Supreme Court of Turkey Faruk Kaymak, and the member from the Council of State İlhan Hanağası, and members Zeki Yiğit and Nakiddin Buğdağ are to be terminated by January 23, 2019. Nilgün Hacımahmutoğlu, the member from Supreme Court of Turkey is to be retired due to age limit by September.
Turkey’s YSK is known to take decisions in line with the demands of the ruling AKP government. During the controversial 2016 referendum, YSK had confirmed unsealed ballots as valid, casting a shadow on the validity of referendum results. YSK has recently approved the transfer of some ballot boxes in the mainly Kurdish population provinces in the east and south-east of Turkey before June 24 elections, that will result in less transparent counting process and disrupt the credibility of the voting, paving way for electoral frauds.
