Turkish presidential contender Muharrem Ince withdrew from Sunday’s election, narrowing the field of rivals to incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan and injecting fresh uncertainty into the contest over how Ince’s supporters will vote.
(Bloomberg) — Turkish presidential contender Muharrem Ince withdrew from Sunday’s election, narrowing the field of rivals to incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan and injecting fresh uncertainty into the contest over how Ince’s supporters will vote.
Markets rallied, with investors betting the withdrawal increases the likelihood of an Erdogan defeat by leaving him to face a single candidate rather than a split opposition.
The benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 stocks index rose as much as 7.8% after the announcement, and the banking index jumped 10%.
Turkey’s longest-dated dollar bonds also rose, with the 2047 note climbing 2.5 cents to 74.3 cents on the dollar, the highest in more than a year. Turkish bonds made up five of the ten best performers in emerging markets on the day.
But the development provides little certainty on which candidate Ince’s voters will ultimately back, and Ince didn’t encourage them to vote one way or another as he exited the race.
His supporters comprise a young electorate unhappy both with the president and the main opposition party, led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who quickly called on Ince for a reconciliation.
“I am doing this for my homeland,” Ince told reporters in a press briefing in Ankara on Thursday.
He asked for “a vote from each household” for his Homeland Party in the parliamentary vote that will happen simultaneously with the presidential ballot.
The move comes a day after Ince denied the authenticity of an alleged sex tape and claims that he took bribes to run for president and split the opposition vote.
He canceled several campaign appearances on Wednesday, citing health reasons.
Why Turkey’s Election Is a Big Test for Erdogan: QuickTake
Ince ran for president under Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party, or CHP, in 2018 but lost to Erdogan.
He then became increasingly critical of the CHP and founded his Homeland Party in 2021.
His speech on Thursday reflected contempt for the CHP, while he refrained from criticizing Erdogan’s ruling AK Party.
Ince’s name will still appear on the ballot and any votes for him would still count as valid.
Votes he’s already received from overseas would also count.
If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, the election will go to a run-off on May 28.
Read this next: Erdogan Teeters Before a Turkish Vote That’s Got the World Watching
–With assistance from Tugce Ozsoy.
(Updates markets from second paragraph.)
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