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1999 Turkish general election

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1999 Turkish general election

← 1995 18 April 1999 2002 →

All 550 seats in the Grand National Assembly
276 seats needed for a majority
Turnout87.09% (Increase1.89pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Bülent Ecevit Devlet Bahçeli Recai Kutan
Party DSP MHP FP
Last election 14.64%, 76 seats 8.18%, 0 seats 21.38%, 158 seats[a]
Seats won 136 129 111
Seat change Increase60 Increase129 Decrease47
Popular vote 6,919,670 5,606,583 4,805,381
Percentage 22.19% 17.98% 15.41%
Swing Increase7.55pp Increase9.80pp Decrease5.97pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Mesut Yılmaz Tansu Çiller
Party ANAP DYP
Last election 19.65%, 132 seats 19.18%, 135 seats
Seats won 86 85
Seat change Decrease46 Decrease50
Popular vote 4,122,929 3,745,417
Percentage 13.22% 12.01%
Swing Decrease6.43pp Decrease7.17pp

Results by province

Prime Minister before election

Bülent Ecevit
DSP

Elected Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit
DSP

General elections were held in Turkey on Sunday, 18 April 1999. For the first time, local, council and parliamentary elections were held on the same day. Bülent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP) had been soaring in popularity after the capture of Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan,[1] emerged as the biggest party and swept the board in most of Turkey's western provinces. It failed, however, to obtain an overall majority, and did not do nearly as well in the eastern provinces.

The second largest party (dubbed "the second winner" by the press the following day) became the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which performed strongly nationwide, producing MPs from nearly all of the country's 81 provinces. The largest party of the last election, the Virtue Party (FP), returned to opposition after shedding forty-seven seats and a million votes. The decline of the Republican People's Party continued; this was the first and the only time in the history of the republic when the party failed to cross the 10 percent threshold for parliamentary representation.[2] This was the last election which produced a hung parliament until the June 2015 general election.

Background

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During the 1997 Turkish military memorandum, in case the Welfare Party were to be banned, the Virtue Party was founded in December 1997. The Welfare Party was subsequently banned in January 1998.[2]

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Democratic Left Party6,919,67022.19136+60
Nationalist Movement Party5,606,58317.98129+129
Virtue Party4,805,38115.41111–47
Motherland Party4,122,92913.2286–46
True Path Party3,745,41712.0185–50
Republican People's Party2,716,0948.710–49
People's Democracy Party1,482,1964.7500
Great Unity Party456,3531.460New
Freedom and Solidarity Party248,5530.800New
Democrat Turkey Party179,8710.580New
Liberal Democratic Party127,1740.410New
Democratic Party92,0930.300New
Nation Party79,3700.2500
Peace Party78,9220.250New
Workers' Party57,6070.1800
Labour Party51,7560.170New
Rebirth Party44,7870.1400
Socialist Power Party37,6800.120New
Changing Turkey Party37,1750.120New
Democracy and Peace Party24,6200.080New
Independents270,2650.873+3
Total31,184,496100.005500
Valid votes31,184,49695.49
Invalid/blank votes1,471,5744.51
Total votes32,656,070100.00
Registered voters/turnout37,495,21787.09
Source: BBC Turkish Service [3]

Aftermath

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Bülent Ecevit formed the country's latest coalition government, against the FP, with the second-placed MHP and the fourth-placed Motherland Party (ANAP) as a junior partner. The DYP was consulted during coalition negotiations, but ended up in opposition. The DSP–MHP–ANAP coalition turned out to be one of the most stable in many years, surviving without change until Ecevit's hospitalisation and subsequent refusal to resign in 2002 prompted a wave of resignations from the DSP and early general elections. Five parties in the parliament (DSP, MHP, FP, ANAP and DYP) all failed to gain seats in 2002 elections.

Notes

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  1. ^ As the Welfare Party; following the Welfare Party's ban by the Constitutional Court, its members founded the Virtue Party.

References

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  1. ^ Şafak, Yeni (2023-07-03). "Türkiye uçurumda: 1999 genel seçimi". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  2. ^ a b "Haritalarla Seçimler: 1999 Genel Seçimleri". Türkiye Raporu (in Turkish). 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  3. ^ "SEÇİM 2002". BBC News.