Electoral Success of the Adalet ve Kalknma Partisi - Literature review Example

To what factors should one attribute the electoral success of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party) in the parliamentary elections of 2002, 2007 and 2011 and the local government elections of 2004 and 2009? Introduction Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party) is a political party in Turkey that developed from the Islamism tradition, but eventually changed to adopt the ideology of conservative democracy. The party has registered unprecedented success since its inception in 2001, winning consecutive elections by landslide margins (Esen & Sinan, 2011:n.p.). Further, the political party has consecutively increased its votes garnered from the first election in 2002 and in every subsequent election. This way, it has set precedence in a country that is predominantly Muslim, and has become an inspiration to the political parties and the political landscape of the region. The Justice and Development Party won its first election in 2002 by landslide, winning over two-thirds of all the parliamentary seats and in the subsequent election of 2007, the party increased its garnered votes to 47%, and in the same year, the party produced the president and the prime minister (King, 2007:n.p.). In the subsequent election of 2011, the party increased its majority vote garnered to 50%, while also winning the key positions of the president and the prime minister, thus forming the government for the third consecutive time (Bahar, 2007:72). In this respect a major question arises in regard to what could be the contributory factors to the success of the party in both parliamentary and local government elections for consecutive terms since it was founded. Thus, this discussion seeks to analyze the possible contributory factors to the success of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the parliamentary elections of 2002, 2007 and 2011 as well as the local government elections of 2004 and 2009, with a view to establishing how both internal factors and external environment has contributed to the success. Discussion First, the party ideology is a significant factor that has contributed to the success it has registered in both the parliamentary and the local government elections since the party was founded in 2001. While starting off as a party built upon the Islamist ideology, the party transformed itself into a conservative democracy party, which sought to embrace both the Islam religion ideologies as well as the ideologies of the non-Muslim and secular communities living in the country, thus forming a comprehensive outlook that sought to cater for the interest of all the country’s citizens (Atacan, 2005:187). The party branded the conservative principle as restricted to the social and moral values of the nation that sought to sustain and protect social and cultural values that formed the fundamental fabric of the nation (Çağaptay, 2004:n.p.). Further, the party sought to establish the democracy principle as the basic tenet for its political framework. This way, both the conservative and the progressive sections of the country found representation, considering that the party did not seek a departure from the social and moral principles of the country, while expanding and increasing the democratic space and peoples participation (Globalsecurity.org., 2013:n.p.). Initially, the country had mostly been led by predominantly Islam-oriented parties that sought to advance the Muslim ideologies as the basis of leadership in the country, while appearing to negate the interest of the rest of the minority groups in the country, which is a predominantly Muslim nation (Davutoğlu, 2010:n.p.). Therefore, with the feeling of being left out, the minority groups did not subscribe to the ideologies of the previous political parties, and eventually such parties did not garner such massive support. However, with the reform of the Justice and Development Party to embrace a comprehensive and all-inclusive outlook that does not leave even the minority groups in the country out of its ideological formulation, the party has eventually been able to attract the loyalty of both the Muslim and the non-Muslims (Brockett, 2010:235). The ideology of social integration of the conservative and the secular interests as the basis of the party’s political agenda has been a plus on the side of the party. This is because, the concept of conservative democracy means that there is relatively high value of social freedom as opposed to a purely Islamic-oriented ideology which is restrictive in terms of freedoms, especially when it comes to the issues of gender rights and discrimination (Bahar, 2007:69). Thus, the concept of conservatism has served to ensure that the party does not negate the conservative principles of the Islamic religion, being the basic tenets under which the party was established. Additionally, the concept of democracy has served to ensure that the party advocates for a higher degree of rights and freedoms, than are accorded by the Islamic religion principles. This means that it is now able to accommodate the ideologies of the non-Muslim communities living in the country, and then integrate them with the Muslim ideologies, to establish a hybrid system of values that are both conservative and democratic in equal measure. This way, the party has become a center of political attention, due to its ability to attract both sides of the divide, eventually emerging more popular than the rest of the parties in the country, which are predominantly conservative (Çağaptay, 2004:n.p.). Secondly, the party has traded on the premise of being a pro-west and a pro-American political party, which then seeks to advance human freedoms and human rights, more than any other political outfit in the country or even the region. In this respect, the party has consistently cultivated the pro-western economic and political policies, with its most conspicuous western move being the move seeking to enlist Turkey’s membership within the European Union, which is a move that the party has been pursuing for the last couple of years (Criss, 2010:47). Thus, the pro-west image that the party has portrayed in a region that is predominantly East-oriented has served to create a difference that resonates well with the concept of globalization and political enlightenment that is characteristic of the 21st century. While the conservative Muslim ideologies have characterized most of the Middle East countries throughout history up to the 20th century, there has arisen a wave of political maturity in the world that has often challenged the conservative principles and values that are held by such conservative political traditions (Brockett, 2010:244). Consequently, it has become more apparent that the concept of globalization has opened up different countries to the pro-western political principles of democracy, freedom of rights and the creation of an open society, where there is free social interaction and a wide involvement of the citizenry in the formulation of government policies and determination of the future direction of countries. This being the case, there has been an agitation among the elites even in the Muslim predominant countries for the expansion of the freedom and the space for democracy (Hale & Ergun, 2010:22). Therefore, considering that the party was established at the return of the 21st century, during at a time when political enlightenment was taking shape throughout the world, the party sought to disregard its predominantly Muslim identity, by embracing the principles of democracy which are then integrated into the Islamic traditions and customs, to produce a political outfit that seems to cater for the interest of both the secular and the conservative citizens, while granting them more freedom, rights and democratic space (Esen & Sinan, 2011:n.p.). This way, the political party has been able to curve an identity of its own amongst the other political parties operating in the country, while also being perceived to be more accessible, open and responsive to the needs of the political enlightenment that is associated with the 21st century. Consequently, the party has been able to enlist the loyalty and the support of both the Islamic faith-based voters and the non-Islamic voters as well, giving rise to the consecutive successes that the party has had in both the parliamentary and the local government elections, since it was founded in 2001 (Globalsecurity.org., 2013:n.p.). Thirdly, the major financial crisis of 2000 that extended to 2001 is a major contributory factor to the success of the Justice and Development Party in both the parliamentary and the local government elections since 2002 to the last election in 2011. The financial crisis that hit Turkey in 2000 was the worst crisis the country has ever experienced, leading to the total slump of the country’s economy, and the subsequent negative growth rate of the economy for the period and the successive periods, where the country registered a -7.4 percent economic growth rate in 2001 (Globalsecurity.org, 2013:n.p.). This financial position put the country at across road, considering that it has remained a dominant economy in the region for decades. However, the most affected entity in the whole financial crisis was the political framework of the country, since the political environment was perceived as a major contributory factor to the failure of the economy of the country, with the country’s political leadership being perceived as unable to address this unfavorable political climate (Eligür, 2009:477). Therefore, the global financial institutions such as the IMF imposed some stringent conditions for the country, which was required to adhere to the established and set fiscal conditions by the IMF (Globalsecurity.org, 2013:n.p.). The monetary and the fiscal policies of the country had been perceived to be inconsistent with the change in the global economic dynamics, and thus must have been a major cause of the financial crisis that the country experienced. Therefore, the fiscal conditions and the subsequent reforms that were imposed by the IMF on the country served to discredit the right and the left oriented political parties in the country, which were purely conservative, and which were perceived to trade on similar political and economic ideologies, which were non-conforming to the rise in globalization and the change in the global economic dynamics, which affected the country negatively. As a result, the major financial crisis was a favorable environment that created space for the rise of the Justice and Development Party, which was riding on a more central oriented ideological platform that enshrined reform as its major agenda (Çağaptay, 2004:n.p.). While both the leftist and the rightist political parties in Turkey were not open to the policy of economic reforms and democracy that would incorporate secularism and the other minority groups interest in both the economic and the political policy formulation process, the AKP party ceased this opportunity to transform itself from the initial Islamic ideology that the country was based on, to a more democratic ideology, which was also mindful of the social values and cultural principles of the nation. In rebranding itself, the Justice and Development Party sought to identify two major principles of separation in its ideological framework. The party therefore gained an opportunity to embrace the reform agenda that was being pushed by the IMF and international community as the basis of the economic recovery of Turkey. This being the case, the party first enlisted the support of the small businesses which were worst hit by the financial crisis of 2000 in the country, and subsequently managed to establish a class-cross alliance that encompassed both the small businesses and the large enterprises in its political and economic ideology formulation (Atacan, 2005:202). This support of the business community that was enlisted by the party in its early stages served to attract more political attention, thus persuading the voters to install the party into power, at the expense of both the left and the right-spectrum oriented parties which were not pro-democracy and pro-reform (Globalsecurity.org, 2013:n.p.). Therefore, the support of the business community, coupled with the economic reform agenda that sought to transform the economy of Turkey which was predominantly monopolistic highly dominated by few large companies. The party wanted to transform the closed economy into a more open and liberal economy, a move that enticed the almost fanatical support of the party in the 2002 elections, which saw the party win by landslide(Yavuz, 2003:72). Initially, the Turkish economy was deeply divided by a deep cliff, which pitched the large industrial and commercial companies that supported a secular regime on one hand and the small firms that were more conservative and thus supported the conservative parties on the other. However, the emergence of a neutral party that would bring the two sides of the economic divide into a single platform was the beginning of success for the party, since it incorporated both the secular and the conservative needs of the large enterprises and the small business respectively, thus enlisting the much required support for the Justice and Development Party, which propelled it into winning the 2002 election and the subsequent elections Davutoğlu, 2010:n.p.. The political crisis that rocked the country in the turn of the 21st century is yet another factor that contributed to the success of the Justice and Development Party in both the parliamentary and the local government elections starting 2002 to the last elections that were held in 2011 (Esen & Sinan, 2011:n.p.). In 2001, one of the popular party in the country, Islamist Fazilet Party was closed by the constitutional court, for advancing values that were against the principle of Turkey as a nation, which is constitutionally a secular republic (Globalsecurity.org., 2013:n.p.). At the same time, Refah Party, which was a predecessor of Fazilet Party, was found suitable for closure by the European Court of Human Rights, which held that the party’s non-secularism ideology was not fit for Turkey which was a secular nation and a democracy. This ruling was upheld, considering that the Refah Party had sought to establish Islamic Law (sharia) in the country, which would have marginalized the non-Muslim minority communities (Globalsecurity.org., 2013:n.p.). Following this closure, there was a vacuum in the political scene which required that new parties should rise to cater for the vacuum created. This was an opportunity for the Justice and Development Party to launch as a political entity, and then align itself with the constitutional requirements, which had forbidden the extremist conservative nature of the previous political party. Therefore, the political crisis in 2001 gave an opportunity for the Justice and Development Party to be established, while also giving the party an opportunity to be rebranded in the most suitable political framework, which comprised of both the secular and the conservative value principles, which were not extreme (Republic of Turkey Parliamentary Elections, 2011:n.p.). This opportunity enabled the party to grow fast and gain a nation-wide outlook and support, considering that it rebranded itself from an Islamist party into a conservative democracy party immediately, while its counterpart, Saadet Party, which was formed at almost the same time did not take advantage of the new identity to establish a neutral political ground that would attract the interest of both the secular and the conservative groups (Globalsecurity.org, 2013:n.p.). Despite the fact that the key leading figures in the Justice and Development Party were previously associated with anti-secularism ideologies, which led to legal suits that sought its closure, the party was able to rebrand itself as a moderate political party that embraced both secularism and conservatism values and principles (Çağaptay, 2004:n.p.). This tactical move ensured that the party was spared a constitutional closure despite its founding member, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, being found unfit to run for parliament due to previous charges of financial misconduct and anti-secularism sentiments (Globalsecurity.org, 2013:n.p.). Thus, the party immediately managed to establish a leadership framework that headed the party into national wide campaign for support, and eventually the party became successful in its first parliamentary election in 2002 and the subsequent ones. Another success factor that can be attributed to the consecutive success of the Justice and Development Party in both the parliamentary and the local government elections since its founding is the concept of social inclusion adapted by the party. While the inclusion of the secularism and the conservative interests was a major success factor, it was boosted even more by the social inclusion principle of the Justice and Development Party, which sought to establish women and the youth as one of its major target voting blocs (Brockett, 2010:226). Women and the youth forms a substantial population of the voters in Turkey, and the conservative parties that reigned previously did not establish the role of these groups as significant in their politics, especially the women who were discriminated against by some conservative values. Therefore, the social inclusion principle of the Justice and Development Party, which allowed women and the youth play important roles in the mobilization of its support served to boost the support base of the party from the previously neglected demographic groups, which then ensured the success of the party in the elections (Criss, 2010:45). The Justice and Development Party established both the Women and the Youth wings of the party within a short period of its establishment, a factor that was significant in enhancing the success of the support campaigns that were undertaken within the first year of the political party’s establishment. Thus, it is the mobilization force of both the Women and the Youth wings of the party that enabled the party to undertake a countrywide support campaign within a year, and was able to win in the November 2002 election with a 34% popular vote, after the party having been founded slightly over the past one year (Yavuz, 2009:160). Political and economic liberalization from 2002 is another major success factor that can be attributed to the subsequent electoral success of the Justice and Development Party in the 2004, 2007 and 2011 parliamentary elections, as well as in the 2004 and 2009 local government elections (Yeşilada & Noordijk, 2010:27). During the 2004 parliamentary elections, the party won by landslide and increased its popular vote from the initial 34% in 2002 to 42% in 2004, which rose to 47% in 2007 and then 50% in 2011 (Globalsecurity.org, 2013:n.p.). These victories are attributable to the political and economic reforms that have been established by the party, which has made it popular overtime, and has made it difficult for other political parties to discredit it to the public. This is because, the party has been responsible for the vast majority of the economic reforms and economic liberalization, which has enabled the country to get on a recovery path after the 2001 financial crisis (King, 2007:n.p.). Further, the party has increased the democratic space by a large margin compared to its predecessors in power. All these reforms have combined to form electoral success factors for the Justice and Development Party, both in the parliamentary and the local government elections. References Atacan, F. 2005. “Explaining Religious Politics at the Crossroad: AKP-SP”, Turkish Studies 6, 2, 187–199. Bahar, H. September 2007. “The Real Winners and Losers of Turkey’s July 2007 Elections”, Middle East Review of International Affairs 11, 3, 68-74. Brockett, G. 2010. How Happy to Call Oneself a Turk: Provincial Newspapers and the Negotiation. of University of Texas Press. Çağaptay, S. 2004. “Local Elections in Turkey: A Landslide Victory for the Incumbent AKP”, Washington Institute Special Policy Forum March 29, 2004 http://www.cagaptay.com/663/local-elections-in-turkey-a-landslide-victory-for Çarkoğlu, A. April-June 2009. “Turkey’s Local Elections of 2009: Winners and Losers”, Insight Turkey 1, 2, 1-18. Criss, N. 2010. “Dismantling Turkey: The Will of the People?” Turkish Studies, Vol 11, No. 1, pp. 45-58 Davutoğlu, A. 2010. “Turkish Foreign Policy and the EU in 2010”, Turkish Policy Quarterly, July 2010, at https://www.turkishpolicy.com/article/433/turkish-foreign-policy-and-the-eu-in-2010/ Eligür, B. 2009. “Turkeys March 2009 Local Elections”, Turkish Studies, 10: 3, 469-496. Esen, B. & Sinan C. September 2011. “Turkey’s 2011 Elections: an Emerging Dominant Party System?” Middle East Review of International Affairs 15, 3 at http://www.gloria-center.org/2011/10/turkey%e2%80%99s-2011-elections-an-emerging-dominant-party-system/ Globalsecurity.org. August 22, 2013. Justice and Development Party (AKP). Retrieved March 16, 2013 from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/tu-political-party-akp.htm Hale, W. & Ergun Ö. 2010. Islam, Democracy and Liberalism in Turkey: The Case of the AKP. Routledge, Abingdon and New York. King, L. April 25, 2007. ‘Moderate gets the nod from Turkey leadership’, The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 16, 2013 from http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/25/world/fg-turkey25 Republic of Turkey Parliamentary Elections. 12 June 2011: OSCE/ODIHR Election Assessment Mission Report, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe: Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Warsaw 31 October 2011 at http://www.osce.org/odihr/84588 Yavuz, M. H. 2009. The emergence of a new Turkey: democracy and the AK Parti. Salt Lake City, Utah, University of Utah Press. Yavuz, M. 2003. Hakan. Islamic Political Identity in Turkey. Oxford University Press. Yeşilada, A. & Noordijk, P. 2010. “Changing Values in Turkey: Religiosity and Tolerance in Comparative Perspective”, Turkish Studies 11, 1, 9-27. Read More