Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has applied to Turkey’s Constitutional Court to postpone the date for the presentation of the party’s oral defence in the closure case against them until after the elections on 14 May.
The application comes after the critical date for the presentation of the party’s oral defence was set for 11 April, which the HDP believes would divert the attention of the co-chairs and party committees from essential election activities.
In the petition submitted to the Constitutional Court, the party’s Law and Human Rights Commission emphasised that the co-chairs would be preoccupied with the election campaign during this period, which could be detrimental to the party’s defence.
The list of candidates for parliament must be submitted on 9 April and 19 April, which means that HDP’s parliamentary candidates could face a ban from running for office if the Constitutional Court rules to shut the party down.
HDP Co-chair Mithat Sancar last week said a closure ahead of the election would “have very severe consequences for Turkey’s democracy”, and that it was “unthinkable” that the HDP’s six million voters should be excluded from the democratic process.
The oral defence was originally to be submitted on 14 March, but the Constitutional Court agreed to postpone the date in response to an application by the HDP following the devastating earthquakes of 6 February. The party had originally requested a three-month delay, but was afforded only one month.
The Constitutional Court has yet not responded to the new request.