For an incumbent party, to merely win an election is no small feat; for it to sweep the polls, only a small number of seats short of securing a constitution-amending majority, is spectacular. How did Turkey’s Justice and Democracy Party manage to do this? Economic development, improved public services and stable governance. Now that is more difficult than it sounds. Even when the times are good, the public generally isn’t too charitable about assessments of governments. The AKP managed to do this because it followed years of financial instability under shaky coalition governments.
In the victory lies a problem for Turkey. First, this is AKP’s third term, PM Erdogan is growing increasingly intolerant of criticism, the centre-left is claiming the party is turning the country into a police state. The government is, no doubt, going to be emboldened by this recent show of confidence. All the ingredients, in other words: a government that has the unflinching support of the majority, can make the trains run on time and jails journalists. It is hoped things don’t come to that dreaded pass.
On the other hand, the victory also serves to illustrate an important point to the west. Not the last word on ethical, pro-democracy diplomacy, the Americans have traditionally preferred one-window dictators to democratically elected political parties. In the past, this might have been attributed to the US’s aversion to leftist political parties; now to its distaste towards political Islam. Well, under the AKP, Turkey has displayed a responsible, if independent, attitude in governance. If the sum of all fears for the west is the ascent of political Islam, it would do well to realise that the burdens of governance have a distinctly sobering effect on political parties. Imagine if one of the religious parties – and may the children of this republic never see the day – were to secure political power in Pakistan, it would not yield some sort of deranged theocracy but a cautious, if incompetent, government. Morality aside (that’s how they like it in the US) the support to dictators does not yield any functional dividends either.
