KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — The Turkish diaspora in Malaysia began voting on Saturday (May 20) in Turkiye’s presidential runoff election between the incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
The runoff election will be held in Turkiye on May 28, after Erdogan fell just short of the 50 per cent threshold needed to win the presidential vote outright last Sunday (May 14), in what had been expected to be his greatest-ever political challenge.
The Turkiye Embassy in Malaysia in a statement said some 700 of their citizens in Malaysia are eligible to vote this time at the embassy for two days starting Saturday (May 20) from 8 am-10 pm.
“Votes will be sent to Turkiye on Monday (May 22) without counting. All the votes will be counted on May 28, on the election night,” said the statement.
Ambassador of the Republic of Turkiye to Malaysia Emir Salim Yuksel said Turkiye is a full-fledged democracy with established rules and customs.
“The first round of presidential elections has been completed without any problems. The election system is reliable, transparent and under the constant observation of all parties involved,” he said, adding that the first round of voting was conducted from May 6 to May 7 in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Turkish voter Emre Senyuva, when met at the embassy, said voting overseas is a privilege and thanked the embassy for providing an option for him to exercise his constitutional rights.
The media reported that some 3.4 million Turks are eligible to vote abroad, out of a total electorate of more than 64 million and will cast their ballots from May 20 to 24.
In last Sunday’s vote, Erdogan emerged from the first round in a strong position, winning 49.5 per cent of the vote, according to Türkiye’s Supreme Election Council, with Kilicdaroglu, the leader of a six-party opposition alliance, tallying 44.89 per cent.
Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, also called AK Party and its nationalist allies won a comfortable parliamentary majority.
— Bernama
