Alanya was set up as a municipality in 1872, electing its first mayor in 1901. Today, Alanya is governed by a mayor and a municipality council made up of thirty-seven members. Eighteen councilors are from the far-right Nationalist Movement Party, seven are from the center-left Republican People's Party, and twelve are of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which is currently in power in the national government. Mayor Adem Murat Yücel of the Nationalist Movement Party was elected in 2014 by unseating the incumbent Hasan Sipahioğlu, who had previously been mayor since 1999. Elections are held every five years, with the next to be held in March 2019. Alanya also has a deputy mayor, who often represents the city at its sporting events, and together the mayor and his team represent Alanya in the provincial assembly in Antalya.