Expectations and Realities

The girls are still little. We are going somewhere by car. They are talking among themselves about the cars they see on the road. One says look how beautiful that car is, the other says no, that one is more beautiful.

At one point they turned to me and asked, "Dad, which one do you think is more beautiful?

My answer was the classic, our car is more beautiful.

Then I added, whatever you have is the most beautiful.

Actually, don't I know, there were many cars around that were much more beautiful than our clunker.

But my aim was to teach them one simple thing. 

Appreciate what you have!

On the other hand, I didn't want them to have too high expectations in life.

When I say this, I am not very different myself. I don't aspire for everything. 

So in principle, I tend to be happy with what I have.

***

I think one of the mistakes the opposition made in these elections was that they raised expectations too high.

In fact, this is partly because of the social pressure from the opposition, which is thirsty for power.

On the other hand, politics is about being assertive. If you are doing politics, you will be assertive. I understand this.

However, when some politicians say "our potential is this much" in their statements, it makes me laugh.

As I said, politics requires being assertive.

However, I think it is necessary not to deviate too much from the truth while trying to do this.

Also, if you set out with the intention of governing the country, you need to know how to manage expectations.

You need to know when and how much hope to give to people.

The good thing is that people support you when you raise expectations, but when the result is not as expected, it may not be so easy to fix the demoralization of those people, to stand up to the bad feelings they have against you, or even to overcome the lynching you will receive.

What to do then?

First of all, you need to take control of the situation yourself.

I don't know whether you will assign this task to polling firms you trust, or whether you will go out in disguise and mingle with the public as you used to do in the past.

But somehow you need to be in control of the situation.

Then you can raise the expectations to a certain level and make people follow you.

But remember, you are in control of the situation, you already know the truth.

That is leadership! It is the art of leading the masses not in vain, but on purpose and under control.

***

On the night of the elections, when Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu and the other leaders around him appeared in front of the screen, I realized that they were in shock just like me. Their faces were in a thousand pieces and they seemed to be amazed at how the result came out like this.

In fact, they withdrew from the screens within two minutes before I could understand what they were saying.

***

However, let's look at it from this perspective.

What do you think it would be like if the discourse was like this?

The government cannot run the country anymore. We have better cadres to run the country. This time we have a chance to send more deputies to the parliament and we have a chance to unseat Mr. Erdoğan in the second round, if not in the first!

If that was the rhetoric, look at the parliamentary elections, this time the government was able to get fewer deputies than last time, even though it changed the electoral law. 

In the first round, Mr. Erdogan did not make it past Üsküdar like last time. Let's unseat him in the second round and give our country a much better future.

With this discourse, I think a much more enthusiastic participation in the second round could have been achieved. 

It is not easy for the opposition to convince the voters with this sociology of the society and the state means at the disposal of the government. 

But at least in this way, expectations would have been managed in a more controlled manner and we would have had hope for the second round.

***

Of course it is not too late yet. Even though the psychological superiority of the opposition before the first round of elections has now shifted to the government, it is possible that Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu could be elected president in the second round with a good organization.

However, at least this time it should be ensured that the counting is done properly. 

Somehow, the opposition fails to do this. Either the system locks up or there is an attack and the system does not work. In short, the vote counting system that will enlighten the public in a regular way cannot be established.

It is said that because the government tactically objected to the polling stations where Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu's votes were higher, the rates that appeared on the screens remained in favor of the government for a long time and the morale deteriorated.

If you could set up a proper system, why would there be such a disruption?

Yes, there is an objection, that's why there is another count, but people could have been informed about the situation instantly with the data entered quickly according to the results of the first count.

Moreover, if they had been informed about the situation on time by appearing on the screen often enough, people's morale would not have deteriorated so quickly.

This is what is called professionalism.

***

In short, this is the fabric at hand. We will sew ourselves a dress with it.

We will try one more time by making the maximum possible without demoralizing the elections.