Support for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has dropped 27.7 percent, according to a June survey by Turkish pollster ORC Research, down from over 42 percent the party garnered in the 2018 elections.
The survey, which asked participants “Which party would you vote for if there were a parliamentary election held this Sunday?” registered a 0.7 percentage point decrease in support for the ruling AKP as compared to May, according to the results shared on ORC’s Twitter account.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) saw the second highest support, the survey found, with 23.8 percent saying they would cast their ballots in favour of the secularist party.
The survey arrives as the country grapples with record-high inflation of over 70 percent after the Turkish lira plunged late last year amid a steep drawdown in the central bank’s reserves and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s unorthodox monetary policy, which left the currency increasingly exposed.
Earlier this month, the country raised the price of natural gas and electricity for households and industry, putting more pressure on inflation in the country.
Turkey’s economic downturn is threatening Erdoğan and his ruling AKP, with many polls indicating eroding support for both.
Some 20.6 percent threw their support behind centre-right opposition Good Party (İP), in a 2.2 percentage point hike in voters for the party since ORC’s May survey.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and AKP coalition partner, far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) followed İP, receiving 7.5 and 7.1 percent, respectively, both over the new election threshold set at 7 percent.
Ahval