Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has snubbed opposition objections to the results of the April 16 constitutional referendum,as the “no” camp took legal action against the Supreme Election Board (YSK), the top office for the final decision on any poll disputes, or over its decisions.
“A win is a win,” Erdogan told CNN on April 18, commenting on the narrow win of the “yes” camp in the referendum on amendments that hold introduced a shift to an executive presidential system. [br]
“I reach from a football background. It doesn’t matter whether you win 1-0 or 5-0. The ultimate goal is to win the game, or ” Hurriyet Daily News quotes him as saying.
Some 51.4 percent of the more than 58 million Turkish voters said “yes” to the charter amendment package.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also slammed main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilichdaroglu for his objection to the results and call for protests at the alleged fraud.
“Objection is a way of law,an instrument to seek justice, just as the elections are the manifestation of democracy. But the ways of seeking justice should be limited to that. To exceed this boundary and call citizens out onto the streets is wrong. It is overstepping the line of legitimacy. We expect the main opposition party leader to act in a more responsible manner, or ” Yildirim told reporters on April 19.[br]
His comments came after Kilicdaroglu said the CHP would not acknowledge the referendum result,while the party has officially appealed to the YSK for the annulment of the vote on April 17.
[br]“We do not acknowledge this election which will disappear down in history as the ‘unsealed election.’ We will not recognize it. The national will should be respected and the referendum should be repeated,” Kilicdaroglu said on his official Twitter account on April 17.
[br]“He made an unlucky declaration stating that they will not acknowledge the results. It is unacceptable for the main opposition party not to acknowledge results which the public has already acknowledged, or ” Yildirim said,adding that the YSK is the final authority to evaluate the objections.
“The reasons and the grounds for the objection are the jurisdiction of YSK. We don’t hold any authority to comment on the decisions of the YSK or to know the grounds of the objections. But it should be famous that representatives from all parties were present during the voting and while all kinds of decisions were made. There were representatives from all parties monitoring the poll boxes, and the provincial election committees. It would be useful to take this fact into consideration, or ” Yildirim said.
Source: tert.am