ISTANBUL - Drawing attention to the new term profile of the Parliament, Green Left Party Istanbul MP Çiçek Otlu said: “It is seen that misogynistic policies will be increased. We will continue to speak our word in the parliament and on the street."

 

The May 14 elections, which are of historical importance, extended to the second round with the absence of 50 plus a percentage in the Presidency. While the MPs who will take office in the 28th Term of the Parliament are determined with the general elections, the marathon continues in the Presidential elections. The profile of candidates displaying the political parties that entered the elections is also reflected in the Parliament. Due to the unequal representative list of candidates, the Parliament was again composed of a male majority. AKP sent 17 percent with 48 female MPs, CHP 18 percent with 31 female MPs, MHP 6 percent with 3 female MPs, and IYI Party 6 women MPs and 13 percent MPs to the Parliament.

 

HUDA PAR and Re-Welfare Party, one of the electoral partners of the People's Alliance, which made the women's gains and the Law No. 6284, the "Law on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence Against Women", the subject of bargaining, also took part in the Parliament; however, 481 MPs out of 600 MPs in the Parliament were men.

 

The Greens and Left Future Party (Green Left Party), which did not compromise on the principle of equal representation, entered the Parliament with 49 percent female representation. Çiçek Otlu, who was elected as Istanbul MP from the Green Left Party list, evaluated the May 14 and the second round elections.

 

Pointing out that although the AKP mobilized all the means of the state, its vote share fell behind in the 2002 elections, and Otlu said that the AKP, which was in power alone, achieved this result despite the alliances it formed at this point.

 

MASS ORGANIZATION HAS TO BE

 

Noting that the need for mass organization became clear with the elections, Otlu said: “We must build our struggle on the demands of the peoples because we see that workers and laborers, women and young people are mostly among the Islamist and political segments. There is a section that sees the purification policy and lifestyle of the AKP regime as a political struggle. We must create our own unique policies against these groups. It may be possible to regress and defeat the fascist regime under conditions where we have succeeded in reorganizing the working class and our working people in our ranks.”

 

Underlining that equal representation is one of the most important goals of the Green Left Party, Otlu said: “When we look at the parliamentary arithmetic, we can say that the number of women who entered the Parliament is 127. It is the Green Left's female MPs that increase this number. When we look at the latest data, it is seen that male politics will be more common in the Parliament, masculine language will be spoken more and misogynistic policies will be increased.”

 

'WE CONTINUE TO SPEAK OUR WORDS'

 

Emphasizing that women's language and women's politics should come to the fore in the Parliament, Otlu said: "The Green Left Party will show this most clearly. It aims to do this by embracing the principles of the women's freedom struggle and organizing it not only in the Parliament but also in the street struggle. That's why we will continue to speak our word in the Parliament and on the street."

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal