Turkey: with the recession, inflation and unemployment, Erdogan receives a ballot – 01/04/2019

The president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his AKP party they suffered a severe setback In local elections on Sunday, according to still partial results, during the loss of the capital, Ankara, as well as Istanbul, the country's economic lung.

These elections, in which the Turks elected their mayors, municipal councilors and district chiefs ("muhtar"), represented a test for Erdogan.

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President he left the skin in the countryside avoid a sanction vote against his party, the AKP, at a time when the country he's going through an economic storm, with high rates of inflation, unemployment and recession.

Although Erdogan's party retains a slight majority at the national level, the partial results grant victory to the opposition in Istanbul and Ankara, as the AKP and its Islamist predecessors they controlled for 25 years.

The candidate of the opposition, Ekrem Imamoglu, very lightly leads the municipal elections in Istanbul, said the president of the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK), which said that the examination of some 80 ballot boxes is being verified.

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In this city, the candidate of Erdogan, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, and his rival Imamoglu claim victory.

Whatever the outcome of the battle of Istanbul, Erdogan has already suffered a remarkable setback in losing the capital, Ankara.

According to still partial results published by the Anadolu agency, in the capital, the opposition candidate, Mansur Yavas, at the top of the ranking with 50.90% of the votes, against 47.06% for the official Mehmet Özhaseki.

But the AKP does not want to lose the two main cities of the country and so announced Sunday night that will interpose resources reconsider the validity of tens of thousands of ballot papers considered invalid.

According to Anadolu, 290,000 votes were void in Istanbul and 90,000 in Ankara.

The opposition, which fears fraud, asked observers not to leave polling stations, although they "do not have to sleep within 48 hours".

The Council of Europe stated that it was not "fully convinced that Turkey currently exists the free and fair electoral environment this is necessary for truly democratic elections, in line with European values ​​and principles. Andrew Dawson, who heads the election observation mission of the Council of Europe for the administrative elections in Turkey, said

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Erdogan preferred to focus on the victory of the AKP-led coalition on a national level, with 51.6% of the votes according to the partial results.

"The fact that it retains its 51% majority is very important," said Ayse Ayata, a professor of political science at the Technical University of the Middle East (Ödtü) in Ankara. "It allows him to maintain his legitimacy," he adds.

But the loss of Istanbul would be difficult for Erdogan, who lived in this city, of which he was mayor between 1994 and 1998.

Moreover, the result is crucial because Istanbul represents the economic heart of the country and if Erdogan loses control, he would give a turning point in Turkish politics.

Erdogan "injured but still standing"

For Ayata ", Erdogan he was injured for the results of Istanbul, but he is still standing ".

In these elections, they fought two coalitions: on the one hand the Erdogan AKP and its ultranationalist MHP allies; and, on the other hand, the social democrats of the CHP and the right-wing party Iyi.

Results obtained by the opposition in Ankara and Istanbul they are remarkablebecause the AKP has benefited from overwhelming cover in the press, many of them controlled by the power.

It's the economy …

But the economic situation eventually hit the AKP and many voters polled by AFP in Istanbul and Ankara expressed their concern about it.

After years of economic growth that have allowed the AKP to win several victories since 2002, Turkey's first recession in ten years, record of inflation and rising unemployment.

"The economic crisis has hurt his constituents," says Berk Esen, badociate professor at Bilkent University in Ankara.

"Erdogan got the support of his base by promising that political stability would bring economic prosperity," says Esen. "But neither one thing nor the other they were obtained as part of their mandates ".

Source: AFP and ANSA

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