Turkish people dissatisfied with AKP gov't, seek a new political party: poll
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ISTANBUL - Forty-three percent of Turks say "a new political party is needed," while 37 percent see the AKP government as unsuccessful, according to a poll published Friday. (UPDATED)
The poll, conducted with the participation of 2,409 people in 33 provinces, showed that 43 percent of Turks think the country needs a new political party, while 48 percent think it A total of 54.6 percent of those in favor of a new political party support the main opposition Republican People's Party, or CHP, while 31.5 percent support the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, the poll published in Turkish daily Milliyet showed. "The most important reason for such a huge rise in the number of people seeking a new party since the 2001 financial crisis, is that citizens feel the governing and opposition parties cannot sufficiently meet the needs of society," said Adil Gur, owner of A&G polling company which conducted the poll. The figures also revealed that the number of those surveyed wanting to see the establishment of new party increases directly in line with their education level, the poll showed. Respondents were evenly split in response to a question about the success of the ruling AKP, with 36 percent finding the party successful and 37 believing them to be unsuccessful, while the remainder were undecided. A total of 38 percent of the respondents think "nothing has changed" within the AKP government since the March 29 elections, while 15.7 percent see the changes in the party as negative. Thirty-two percent see changes in the AKP, which include a major Cabinet reshuffle and greater focus on the economy, as positive. The survey also showed that 20.4 percent of Turks who had voted for the ruling party, nearly 3.1 million people, said that they preferred to call the party "AKP". Co-founder of the ruling party, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, has however said "it is impudent to refer to the party as the AKP," and has demanded that everyone "must use" the official "AK Party" abbreviation. The March 29 elections revealed an almost eight point decline in support for the ruling AKP, which secured 38.4 percent of the vote for provincial assemblies, compared to its previous electoral showing in 2007. The party had won more than 41 percent in the municipal polls held in 2004. Opposition parties, including the nearest contender CHP, gained ground in the March 29 elections. Support to CHP rose to 23.1 percent from the 20.88 percent gained in the 2007 general elections and 18.23 percent in the 2004 local elections. Despite gaining ground in the recent local elections, 63.9 percent of respondents think that change is needed within the CHP, the survery also revealed.