Istanbul, Aug. 15, (dpa/GNA) – Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu announced on Tuesday his plans to run for re-election in Turkey’s municipal elections in March 2024, despite a potential political ban against him.
His secular main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leadership will make the final decision on the candidacy, İmamoğlu told reporters in Istanbul.
“I am setting out to protect Istanbul from injustice and environmental destruction,” he said.
İmamoğlu criticized the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a host of problems, among them a cost-of-living crisis and a refugee influx, without directly naming the president.
İmamoğlu is seen as a potential rival against Erdoğan for the presidency in the coming years. In 2019 local elections, he ended 25 years of rule by Erdoğan and his Islamic conservative predecessors in Turkey’s largest city and financial capital.
A court sentenced İmamoğlu last year to more than two years in prison and a political ban for allegedly insulting public officials. If the verdict becomes final, İmamoğlu will no longer be able to hold any political office.
Rights groups condemned the legal process against the popular politician as politically manipulated.
If he runs, İmamoğlu will strive for a local parliament majority as well, which he lacks at the moment, and is a fact he argues hampers most of his crucial urban plans.
GNA