Turkey's opposition on rise as ruling AKP weakens, poll says
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Public support to Turkey's opposition parties are rising, while ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is losing ground ahead of the local elections, a recent poll showed.
AKP had conducted a poll to determine its candidate for mayor in the capital, Vatan daily reported on Saturday. Around 3,500 people attended the poll, the report said.
According to the poll, public support to AKP is 40 percent, while main opposition party CHP gets 36.2 percent of the votes.
CHP's joint candidate with another leftist party SHP for
Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek's, whose candidacy is in limbo, approval rating stood at 36.5 percent, while 58.2 percent said they do not want him to run again.
Gokcek got 55.35 percent of the votes in the previous elections held in 2004. CHP candidate got 12.71 percent and SHP's candidate Karayalcin got 20.99 percent.
Gokcek has been running the office since 1994 and he wants to run for the fourth time. However AKP and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan are yet to make a decision on Gokcek.
Observers say if AKP does not nominate him, then he might prefer to run as an independent or become a candidate of another conservative party and in any case, such a development would divide the vote and render it very difficult for the AKP to win the
Gokcek has lost ground due to water cuts at the peak of summer and the intensified corruption allegations against him. AKP fears nominating Gokcek might harm its hopes to keep the post.
Another complicating factor is the character of Gokcek. He has been so aggressive and seen as a real headache for the AKP leadership, the observers add.