Hatay governor’s resignation to run for parliament draws ire
Opposition deputies who have witnessed the post-quake efforts in the southern Hatay province have commented on the resignation of the local governor to run for parliament by saying he should have instead resigned due to his “failure” and “incompetence” to effectively coordinate search and relief efforts.
Ceren Bayar / Gazete Duvar
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Tülay Hatimoğulları has commented on Hatay Governor Rahmi Doğan’s resignation to be a candidate for deputy nomination.
Hatay MP Hatimoğulları said that the governor should in fact have resigned from his role in the face of his “failure” and “incompetence” to effectively manage post-quake efforts.
“When there is such a failure out in the open, a governor who has not taken any initiative, now says, ‘Award me. Let me be a deputy; let my people reward me.’ It is not possible to accept this,” she said.
She said that not just the governor himself but all officials of the government, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, should have resigned due to their inadequate and uncoordinated response to the earthquake disaster of Feb. 6.
The Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) Hatay deputy Barış Atay also commented on Governor Doğan’s aspiration to be a deputy, by saying: “I could not guess that he would take such a decision when it has been only one month since the disaster, when the disaster period is still being experienced.”
Doğan on March 15 announced on Twitter that he resigned from his post “with the permission of my statesmen” to be a candidate for deputy nomination ahead of the May 14 elections.
He argued that he put effort “as much as I could to do good work for my the nation.” “My fellow Hatay residents are the biggest witness of this process,” he said.
(English version by Didem Atakan)