The İstanbul City Council, on which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has a majority, in a Thursday evening session overturned a decision by the mayor to raise the price of water services, a move that was called “cheap populism” by Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The İstanbul Water and Sewage Administration (İSKİ) released its 2020 budget this week, indicating an increase in the price of water.
On Thursday evening the proposition was voted down by the AKP majority.
Mayor İmamoğlu from Turkey’s main opposition party on Friday called on city council members from the ruling AKP to urge the government in Ankara to cancel recent hikes in the price of energy.
“What happened yesterday was cheap populism,” İmamoğlu said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday claimed that İstanbul and Ankara, where the 25-year rule of the Islamist AKP ended in the latest local elections, would suffer a drought in three months.