1999 Turkish general election

Turkey's 14th general election was held on Sunday April 18, 1999 and was the first election in Turkish history to combine local, council and parliamentary elections on the same day. Bülent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP) had been soaring in popularity after the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, emerged as the biggest party and swept the board in most of Turkey's western provinces. It failed, however, to obtain an overall majority, and did not do nearly as well in the eastern provinces.

1999 Turkish general election

April 18, 1999

Total of 550 seats of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
276 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout87.1%[1] 1.9pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Bülent Ecevit Devlet Bahçeli Recai Kutan
Party DSP MHP Virtue
Leader since 15 January 1989 6 July 1997 1998
Leader's seat Istanbul Osmaniye Malatya
Last election 76 seats, 14.64% no seats, 8.18% New party
Seats won 136 129 111
Seat change 60 129 New
Popular vote 6,919,670 5,606,583 4,805,381
Percentage 22.18% 17.97% 15.40%
Swing 7.55% 9.80% New

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
ANAP
Leader Mesut Yılmaz Tansu Çiller
Party ANAP DYP
Leader since 15 June 1991 13 June 1993
Leader's seat Rize Muğla
Last election 132 seats, 19.65% 135 seats, 19.18%
Seats won 86 85
Seat change 46 50
Popular vote 4,122,929 3,745,417
Percentage 13.22% 12.01%
Swing 6.43% 7.17%


Prime Minister before election

Bülent Ecevit
DSP

Elected Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit
DSP

The second largest party (dubbed "the second winner" by the press the following day) became the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which performed strongly nationwide, producing MPs from nearly all of the country's 81 provinces. The largest party of the last election, the Virtue Party (FP), returned to opposition after shedding forty-seven seats and a million votes. The decline of the Republican People's Party continued; this was the first time the party failed to exceed the 10 percent threshold for parliamentary representation. This was the last election which produced a hung parliament until the June 2015 general election.

Results

Total votes and seats for each party

Parties Votes Seats
No. %  +− % No. +−
Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti) 6,919,670 22.19 +7.55 136 +60
Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi) 5,606,583 17.98 +9.8 129 +129
Virtue Party (Fazilet Partisi) 4,805,381 15.41 -5.97 111 -47
Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi) 4,122,929 13.22 -6.43 86 -46
True Path Party (Doğru Yol Partisi) 3,745,417 12.01 -7.13 85 -50
Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) 2,716,094 8.71 -2.00 0 -49
People's Democracy Party (Halkın Demokrasi Partisi) 1,482,196 4.75 +0.58 0 0
Great Union Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi) 456,353 1.46 0
Freedom and Solidarity Party (Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi) 248,553 0.80 0
Democratic Turkey Party (Demokrat Türkiye Partisi) 179,871 0.58 0
Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Demokrat Parti) 127,174 0.41 0
Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti) 92,093 0.30 0
Nation Party (Millet Partisi) 79,370 0.25 -0.20 0
Peace Party (Barış Partisi) 78,922 0.25 0
Workers' Party (İşçi Partisi) 57,607 0.18 -0.04 0
Labour Party (Emek Partisi) 51,756 0.17 0
Rebirth Party (Yeniden Doğuş Partisi) 44,787 0.14 -0.20 0
Socialist Government Party (Sosyalist İktidar Partisi) 37,680 0.12 0
Changing Turkey Party (Değişen Türkiye Partisi) 37,175 0.12 0
Democracy and Peace Party (Demokrasi ve Barış Partisi) 24,620 0.08 0
Independents 270.265 0.87 +0.39 3 +3
No. of valid votes 31,184,496 100,00   550 0
Invalid votes 1,471,574  
Electorate size 37,495,217
Voter turnout 87.09%

Effects

Coalition government

Bülent Ecevit formed the country's latest coalition government, against the FP, with the second-placed MHP and the fourth-placed motherland Party (ANAP) as a junior partner. The DYP was consulted during coalition negotiations, but ended up in opposition. The DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition turned out to be one of the most stable in many years, surviving without change until Ecevit's hospitalisation and subsequent refusal to resign in 2002 prompted a wave of resignations from the DSP and an early general election.

References

  1. "MİLLETVEKİLİ GENEL SEÇİMLERİ 1923 - 2011" (PDF) (in Turkish). Yüksek Seçim Kurulu. p. 5. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
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