10% Then We’ll See – Campaigning For Tactical HDP Votes

KT Report:

Tactical voting campaigns have been a new feature of this Turkish general election. Organised by HDP supporters, they have targeted voters who (1) don’t know who to vote for but (2) know they don’t want president Erdogan to extend his powers after the election, and possibly don’t want a continuation of one-party rule by the AKP.

’10danSonra’ (‘10% then we’ll see’) was probably the most vibrant campaign. It has illustrated the realities of Turkish parliamentary arithmetic to undecided voters, explaining that – if the HDP fails to cross the 10% threshold – it will get no seats and all its votes will translate into another 50-70 AKP MPs. This will potentially give the AKP the two-thirds parliamentary majority it needs to call a referendum – conducted from a position of strength – on a proposal to change the constitution and establish a presidential system of government. ’10danSonra’ has stressed that every extra vote for the HDP in this election could help make a huge difference to the future of the country.

KT spoke to some young 10danSonra activists in Gazientep. There were both Kurds and non-Kurds in the group and they preferred to stay anonymous. This is a brief summary of the discussion.

How did 10danSonra start?

It was the initiative of a group of activists in Istanbul at the end of March which spread to a total of 11 cities, including Gazientep.

What sort of people got involved?

In my case (says one person) my family supports the CHP, my father is an official in the party and I used to be a member. Now I prefer to support this initiative.

We are people who have embraced the election manifesto of the HDP (says another member of the group) but we are not members of the party.

Why are we not members? We can be more flexible and provide more voluntary input this way. We can also access people the HDP members cannot reach.

Are you opposed to the 10% threshold for all parties or just for the HDP?

After the election we can talk more about the principles of this but we think the 10% threshold is wrong and should be removed.

Even if a party gets just 100,000 votes in the country, it should have representation.

Who has your campaign targeted?

We have concentrated on districts where middle class people live, travelling about in our van, going to parks, bazaars and festivities to hand out cards and stickers and talk to people face to face. We have focussed on undecided voters, trying to persuade them to vote HDP at least for tactical reasons.

How do you measure your success?

Partly by how the conversations have gone. Sometimes, even if people don’t commit to vote HDP, at least they agree that you are right. We will also be able to see how the vote goes in the areas where we have campaigned.

What is your plan for after the election?

We haven’t decided yet. If the HDP crosses the threshold we will want to follow up and see that they carry out what they have promised. There is a real network that has been developed across the 11 cities.