1991 Turkish general election

General elections were held in Turkey on 20 October 1991, to elect members to the 19th Grand National Assembly. It was the first by the ruling Motherland Party to be contested without its founding leader, Turgut Özal, who had become Turkish president two years previously. The result was a swing against Özal's former party in favour of its fierce centre-right rival, the True Path Party led by Süleyman Demirel. The vote saw two additional parties cross the 10 percent barrier to enter parliament. Necmettin Erbakan and his Welfare Party saw a party of religious background returned for the first time in 14 years. Welfare had a greatly increased share of the vote and took several key provinces, including Istanbul in 1994 local elections. Bülent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party also scraped through to win seven seats. Voter turnout was 83.9%.[1]

1991 Turkish general election

← 1987 20 October 1991 1995 →

All 450 seats in the Grand National Assembly
226 seats needed for a majority
Turnout83.92% (Decrease9.36pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Süleyman Demirel Mesut Yılmaz Erdal İnönü
Party DYP ANAP SHP
Last election 19.14%, 59 seats 36.31%, 292 seats 24.74%, 99 seats
Seats won 178 115 88
Seat change Increase119 Decrease177 Decrease11
Popular vote 6,600,726 5,862,623 5,066,571
Percentage 27.03% 24.01% 20.75%
Swing Increase 7.89pp Decrease 12.30pp Decrease 3.99pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Necmettin Erbakan Bülent Ecevit
Party RP DSP
Last election 7.16%, 0 seats 8.53%, 0 seats
Seats won 62 7
Seat change Increase62 Increase7
Popular vote 4,121,355 2,624,301
Percentage 16.88% 10.75%
Swing Increase 9.72pp Increase 2.22pp


Prime Minister before election

Mesut Yılmaz
ANAP

Elected Prime Minister

Süleyman Demirel
DYP

Background

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The diversification of the communication tools in the 1980s and 1990s affected political campaigns. One feature that distinguished the 1991 elections from previous ones was the presence of private television channels and the ability of parties to advertise on television.[2]

An electoral alliance called the "holy alliance" was formed by the Welfare Party, Nationalist Task Party and Reformist Democracy Party to contest the elections.[3]

The pro-Kurdish People's Labour Party (HEP) contested the elections on the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) list.[4]

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
True Path Party6,600,72627.03178+119
Motherland Party5,862,62324.01115–177
Social Democratic Populist Party5,066,57120.7588–11
Welfare Party4,121,35516.8862+62
Democratic Left Party2,624,30110.757+7
Socialist Party108,3690.440New
Independents32,7210.1300
Total24,416,666100.004500
Valid votes24,416,66697.06
Invalid/blank votes740,4232.94
Total votes25,157,089100.00
Registered voters/turnout29,979,12383.92
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p258 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  2. ^ Uzunsoy, Mert (24 January 2023). "Haritalarla Seçimler: 1991 Genel Seçimleri". Türkiye Raporu (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  3. ^ Akgun, Birol (March 2002). "Twins or Enemies: Comparing Nationalist and Islamist Traditions in Turkish Politics" (PDF). Middle East Review of International Affairs. 6 (1).
  4. ^ Bozarslan, Mahmut (20 March 2021). "HEP'ten HDP'ye Kapatılan Kürt Partileri". Amerika'nin Sesi | Voice of America - Turkish (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 May 2023.