Municipalities of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) are launching a new program to systematically review the demands and views of citizens in their respective areas, the party announced Friday.
Put forth by the AK Party Local Administrations Presidency, the “Citizen asks, mayor answers” program will start simultaneously in these administrations, where mayors will share with citizens the services and projects provided in the first years of their term.
At the meeting, where neighborhood residents will take the floor and voice their opinions and demands, citizens will also be able to direct their questions to the mayor.
Within the scope of the project that will start tomorrow, AK Party Deputy Chairman and Local Governments head, Mustafa Demir, will also attend the program in Istanbul province’s Kağıthane district. Demir, who will meet with citizens, will make evaluations about the AK Party’s Local Government vision.
The program is part of the efforts the party has engaged in recently. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has pledged renewal after last year’s municipal election.
The AK Party became a staple of Turkish politics with its all-embracing politics when it was launched more than two decades ago. Voters who had endorsed left-wing or right-wing parties of the past and were disillusioned with the tumultuous era of unstable coalition governments carried the party to its first victory. In the ensuing years, the party strengthened its ranks with new transfers, welcoming prominent politicians who were once opponents, including several from its main rival, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Its ties with disadvantaged communities, as well as communities who were deprived of their rights by the past governments, such as Kurds, cemented the party’s place in politics.
After losing several strongholds to the CHP in the latest municipal elections, Erdoğan acknowledged the party’s shortcomings and announced that they “received the message of the electorate.” He promised changes in both the party’s policies and cadres, without deviating from its original political ideology, reflected in its name, to govern with justice and attach importance to development.