Erdogan party leads in municipal elections

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was leading nationwide in municipal elections yesterday but the crucial mayoral races in Ankara and Istanbul were in a dead heat.Yesterday’s polls are seen as a test for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amidst an economic recession and nine months after he took charge as executive president with vastly expanded powers.With more than three-quarters of ballots counted nationwide, Erdogan’s AKP was at 45.7%, state news agency Anadolu reported.The ruling alliance as a whole was ahead at 52.1%, with the opposition alliance at 37.2%.Erdogan said yesterday that his AK Party had lost some cities in yesterday’s mayoral elections, and pledged that his government would now focus on implementing strong economic plans.Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said the next elections would be held in June 2023 and that Turkey would carefully implement a “strong economic programme” without compromising on free market rules.Erdogan has been in power for 16 years, first as prime minister and then as president from 2014, but his party could be losing its grip on Ankara.The opposition’s mayoral candidate for the capital, Mansur Yavas, was leading at 50%, ahead of the AKP’s Mehmet Ozhaseki, who was at 47.6%.The Turkish capital has been controlled by conservatives since 1994, as has Istanbul, which picked Erdogan as mayor in 1994.The AKP’s Binali Yildirim, former premier and ex-parliament speaker, had a slim lead in Istanbul, Anadolu said.With 88% of ballots counted, Yildirim was at 49.6% of votes.Opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu was at 47.7%.Imamoglu, from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and centre-right Iyi (Good) party alliance, told a press conference: “Unfortunately there is real manipulation here,” asking people to watch as ballots were being counted.Turkey’s more than 57mn eligible voters voted for 1,389 mayors, and tens of thousands of municipal council members and neighbourhood chiefs at 200,000 ballot boxes.Voter turnout was more than 83%, according to Anadolu.Erdogan, who cast his ballot at a school in Istanbul’s Uskudar district along with his wife Emine, told reporters in the morning: “I hope we close the ballot boxes in the evening with a high voter turnout.” The president isn’t on the ballot, but he dominated the campaign, saying he visited 59 of 81 provinces.He has also been on every television screen, with each poll event headlined by broadcasters.Analysts say the elections are a referendum on Erdogan’s policies since parliamentary and presidential polls in June, when he promised a “new Turkey.”This time, Erdogan has said Turkey’s very survival is at stake, as he referred to rising Islamophobia and showed footage of the mosque shootings in New Zealand at rallies.