Turkey's Minister of Agriculture and Foresty, Bekir Pakdemirli, attended a meeting in İzmir's Krabağlar district, where AKP's mayoral candidate presented his projects for the district.
Referring to the upcoming local elections on March 31, the minister likened İzmir to a big corporation for which the citizens will elect a CEO.
"İzmir is a big company and it has huge assets. We do not have the chance of saying that these assets are healthy and we do not have any debts. You should invest in the future of the city. Actually, we will select a CEO for this city. Our mayoral candidate is a good businessman and knows how to manage money," he said.
AKP's minister also accused the current İzmir metropolitan municipality from the main opposition CHP of not providing employment opportunities for the people of İzmir.
After the confession of the minister about electing "CEO"s for cities, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) released a statement calling on the people not to elect bosses for cities. TKP in İzmir pointed out in the statement that what the minister has finally said reflects what the bourgeois parties think about local governments.
"For communists, however, cities are not the spaces for the capitalists to increase their profits but for the working people to fight against the corporations' greed for profit. Local government should work to increase the welfare of the working people", the statement said.
TKP in İzmir also called the people of İzmir to vote for the communist candidates, who will not be the boss of the city but work with the people of the city.
