ANKARA - CHP's Mahmut Tanal said that AKP has barricaded the generation Z with the new election law. HDP's Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki stated that they took precautions against it.

 

The election law proposal, brought in partnership with the AKP and MHP, passed the commission despite all the objections of the opposition. In the bill that will be discussed in the General Assembly today, voters will have to lived in the same adress for 1 year in order to vote. After the discussions in the commission, this period was reduced to 3 months. Politicians and non-governmental organizations emphasized that with this change, the government aims to push students, seasonal agricultural workers and young people who will vote for the first time in the next elections, called “Generation Z”, out of the elections, which they think will not vote for him.

 

Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul MP Mahmut Tanal and HDP Batman Deputy Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki, who took part in the commission meetings, evaluated the regulation introduced in the election law.

 

BARRICADE IN FRONT OF GENERATION Z

 

Stating that the law brought by the government is not transparent and fair, CHP's Mahmut Tanal drew attention to the fact that the election law was prepared in a way that would benefit the big parties. Stating that the government brought the law in order to win the election at the table, which it could not win at the ballot box, Tanal said that despite all the calculations of the government, it would lose. Emphasizing that the main target with the enacted law is "Generation Z", Tanal said, "Those who do not appear in the address registration system due to the closure of the address, vote where they are the last voters". There are young people who do not appear in the address record. Where will these young people vote? They weren't 18 and could not vote in the previous elections. In fact, they are setting up such a barricade for Generation Z because they know that young people will not vote for them. The records from a year ago are taken as a basis, but young people who turn 18 are excluded from the elections because they have not voted before. Seasonal agricultural workers or daily workers are excluded from the election with this type of arrangement.”

 

THE RIGHT TO VOTE IS DENIED

 

Stating that the right to vote was taken away from the people by the draft law brought by the government, Tanal reminded that seasonal agricultural workers had to live in other cities for 7-8 months of the year. Tanal said, “Seasonal agricultural workers work in different cities from the first week of April until the last week of October. These seasonal agricultural workers do not have addresses wherever they go, their children are usually students. Yes, none of these people or very few of them voted in the elections held in June.

 

THE PLANS OF THE GOVERNMENT

 

Stating that the parties that seasonal agricultural workers vote for are generally social democrat parties, Tanal said, “The provinces where seasonal agricultural workers come from are obvious, the parties they vote for are obvious. The government is trying to find a way to prevent them from voting. The Generation Z has already showed their position regarding the political power, AKP will get very few votes from the Generation Z, so the government is calculating how to bypass these classes. The main goal of the government is to prevent the Generation Z. But it will not work."

 

POOR VOTERS WILL HAVE A HARD TIME VOTING

 

HDP's Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki also stated that the impoverished voters displaced by the draft law will have difficulty in voting and said, “If you move to another place, you have to go to your old settlement to vote. In this case, you will have some expenses, such as travel, accommodation, food. Of course, it is not possible for the poor and students to be able to afford it, so low-income people will be affected by this law. We will take measures in response to this, we will take our voters to the places where they will vote. We will try to reduce this negative impact."

 

'NO ELECTION LAW HAS BEEN PREPARED BY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE POOR'

 

Stating that most of the voters will not be in places to vote even if there is no change in the law, Tiryaki said that no election law in Turkey's history has been prepared by taking into account the poor, students and seasonal workers. Tiryaki continued: “In any case, students, seasonal workers and those who have to work in other cities are adversely affected by this. Whether or not this bill is proposed, none of the electoral laws has aimed to make a regulation by considering the interests and living conditions of the poor.”

 

'COVER THE ELECTION EXPENSES'

 

Stating that it is possible for seasonal agricultural workers and students to participate in the elections if the government  cover the election expenses, Tiryaki said, “The only thing we can defend against this is; public administrations should cover the expenses of people who study and work outside of their registered place. If the government wants the full reflection of the will of the voters, it should do it."

 

 

MA / Berivan Kutlu