Today in History – 27 October

The Democrat Party loses power

October 27, 1957 constituted a turning point for CHP. According to the general elections held on this date, the Democrat Party won 424 seats with 47.9% of the votes, whereas CHP won 178 with 41.1%.

Accordingly, although DP took less than the absolute majority of public votes, it continued to remain in power. CHP, on the other hand, won full lists in 18 cities. When combined with other, smaller parties, the votes of CHP outnumbered those of DP in certain cities. However, as mergers were not allowed, the desired results could not be attained. In addition, the majority system employed in the elections was leading to injustice in the distribution of seats in the parliament.

Although CHP could not take DP down from power, the 1957 elections can be considered as success for CHP, as the party increased its seats from 31 to 178 and raised votes from 35 to 41 percent. In the face of the social and economic developments that occurred after the elections, CHP entered a period of intense restructuring and made significant changes to the party policies.