The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) would have garnered 0.9 percentage points more than the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and emerge as the new leading party in a possible general election held in May, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by ASAL Research, local media reported on Thursday.
In the “Turkey Political Agenda May 2024” survey, which was conducted on 2,000 people in 26 provinces across the country between May 24-28, respondents were asked, “Which political party would you vote for if there was a general election this Sunday?”
While 31.5 percent of participants said they would vote for the CHP, 30.6 percent said they would support the AKP.
They were followed by those who would support the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) (10.1 percent), an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP; the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) (9.6 percent); the Islamist New Welfare Party (YRP) (5.7 percent); the nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party (3.9 percent); the Victory Party (ZP) (3.2 percent); the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) (1.6 percent); and other parties (3.8 percent).
Bu Pazar bir milletvekili seçimi olsa hangi siyasi partiye oy verirsiniz?
▪️CHP:%31.5
▪️AK Parti:%30.6
▪️MHP:%10.1
▪️DEM Parti:%9.6
▪️Yeniden Refah:%5.7
▪️İYİ Parti:%3.9
▪️Zafer Partisi:%3.2
▪️Türkiye İşçi Partisi:%1.6
▪️Diğer:%3.8*Kararsızlar/Oy Kullanmayacağım/Fikrim… pic.twitter.com/cARriieZbx
— Asal Araştırma (@AsalArastirma) May 30, 2024
The survey comes after the ruling AKP suffered its worst election defeat since coming to power two decades ago in the latest local elections held on March 31, while the CHP came in first.
Emerging as the leading party for the first time in 47 years, CHP secured 37.7 percent of the vote, maintained control of key cities and secured substantial gains in other regions, while the AKP, for the first time in 22 years, came in second, garnering only 35.4 percent of the vote.
In the previous local elections in 2019, the AKP’s vote stood at 44.3 percent, while support for CHP was at 30.1 percent.
Over the past several years Turkey has been suffering from a deteriorating economy, with high inflation and unemployment as well as a poor human rights record. President Erdoğan is criticized for mishandling the economy, emptying the state’s coffers and establishing one-man rule in the country where dissent is suppressed and opponents are jailed on politically motivated charges. Erdoğan and his party are also widely criticized for filling state posts with their cronies and disregarding merit-based appointments.