With the opposition trying to cope with the controversy over mayoral nominations, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) unveiled its 2024 municipal election manifesto on Tuesday. The document, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shared with the public at the newly opened AK Party Congress Center in the capital Ankara, consists of eight chapters united by the main theme of "True Municipal Government for the Century of Türkiye Cities": the local government vision; participation, transparency and accountability; resilient cities; cities and the environment in the "Century of Türkiye"; urban economies prioritizing social welfare; sensible and inclusive social municipal government; culture-producing cities, and the municipal government of service and works. In this sense, the text represented the outcome and synthesis of Erdoğan’s three decades in politics and the AK Party’s 21 years in power. Let us recall that the AK Party’s municipal election campaigns focused on “the onset of local development” in 2004, “brand-cities” in 2009, “human, democracy and the city on the road to great civilization” in 2014 and “the municipal government of hearts” in 2019. The 2024 document, in turn, processed all those claims and built a new claim on them: true municipal government. In a different sense, the document built on and complemented the May 2023 election manifesto that Erdoğan had unveiled within the framework of the "Century of Türkiye" vision. In other words, it makes public the policies and perspective that shall prepare Turkish cities for future risks and opportunities in the republic’s next century. Excluding city-specific projects from the document, the AK Party decided to let mayoral candidates unveil them. Moreover, it was noteworthy that the movement included an oath for mayoral candidates at the beginning of the document. The AK Party developed a common approach to national and local government to generate a vision that helps our country prepare for global trends.

Opposition challenged

Unable to conceal his joy for speaking at his party’s newly built congress center, Erdoğan challenged the opposition by saying that the AK Party was competing with itself in all fields, including municipal government: “We are yet to see any local government vision or practice that could reach the same level as the AK Party – let alone surpass it. The nation has witnessed those folks, who took some municipalities from us in the previous election, accomplished nothing except causing those cities to lose five years.” Indeed, the AK Party demonstrated how it became a household name in local government by releasing its manifesto. Highlighting its focus on pioneering, innovation, reform and public service/works, it positively distinguished itself from the opposition. The Turkish people now expect the opposition parties to present their own documents. [Daily Sabah, February 2, 2024]