1983 Turkish general election
← 1977 6 November 1983 1987 →
All 400 seats in the Grand National Assembly
201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout92.27% (Increase19.85pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Turgut Özal Necdet Calp Turgut Sunalp
Party AP HP MDP
Seats won 211 117 71
Popular vote 7,833,148 5,285,804 4,036,970
Percentage 45.14% 30.46% 23.27%
Winning parties by city, electoral district and district
Prime Minister before election

Bülent Ulusu
Military

Elected Prime Minister

Turgut Özal
AP

General elections were held in Turkey on 6 November 1983, the first since 1977 after democratic rights were abandoned after the military coup of 1980. The National Security Council banned the previous political parties from participating, leading to the establishment of new parties.[1] Turgut Özal's Motherland Party (ANAP) won a significant victory in this elections by gaining 45.14% of the votes. This victory was the starting point of a rapid change in the structure of the state and society in Turkey.[2] Voter turnout was 92.3%.[3]

The Populist Party (HP) was the continuation of the former CHP and was the only left-wing participant in the election. The Nationalist Democracy Party was founded by the military junta of the time, whilst the Motherland Party was seen as the successor of the Justice Party (AP) by some circles but Süleyman Demirel, the leader of AP, who would later form the DYP to challenge the power of Turgut Özal's Motherland Party. With a first-ever televised debate on TRT, the elections brought a new factor into the political campaign. Necdet Calp was a long serving politician, Sunalp a high-ranking officer, and both had little to offer to confront Turgut Özal rhetorical skills.[4]

Results

Owing to a registration error in the town of Bingöl, ANAP were unable to take one of the seats they had won there, lowering the total number of MPs in the chamber to 399.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Motherland Party7,833,14845.14211New
Populist Party5,285,80430.46117New
Nationalist Democracy Party4,036,97023.2771New
Independents195,5881.1300
Total17,351,510100.00399–51
Valid votes17,351,51095.14
Invalid/blank votes886,8524.86
Total votes18,238,362100.00
Registered voters/turnout19,767,36692.27
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

  1. ^ Turkey - Political Developments since the 1980 Coup Country Studies
  2. ^ "ucnokta.com". Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  3. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p257 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  4. ^ Wuthrich, F. Michael (2015-07-28). National Elections in Turkey: People, Politics, and the Party System. Syracuse University Press. p. 189. ISBN 9780815634126.
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