Turkey’s election watchdog has announced that the country’s presidential election will go to runoff on May 28 as no candidate secured more than 50 per cent of vote in the initial round.
“According to the results, it has been observed that no presidential candidate could get enough votes to be elected as the President. Our board decided to go to the second round of polls on May 28 in line with the laws,” Ahmet Yener, head of the Supreme Election Board, told reporters on Monday.
Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led with 49.51 per cent while his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu gained 44.88 per cent, said Yener, adding Sinan Ogan, the third candidate, had 5.17 per cent of vote, Xinhua news agency reported.
After the second round of polls between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu on May 28, the one who secures more votes will be the next Turkish president, according to Turkish law.
The voter turnout was 88.92 per cent in Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary polls, Yener noted.
Nearly 61 million voters are registered to cast their ballots in the Turkish elections.