Turkey's ruling, opposition parties supported by 31% of voters: Poll

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
8 Mar 23:43

A poll finds that 31.8% of respondents plan to vote for the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party.

Ballot papers during the counting of votes in a rerun of the mayoral election at a polling station in Istanbul, Turkey, June 23, 2019 (Reuters)

A survey by the ALF pollster found on Wednesday that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is currently supported by 31% of citizens, while 31.8% plan to vote for the opposition Republican People's Party.

According to the poll, the opposition pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party holds the third place in popularity with 11.3% of votes, while the opposition Good Party's popularity decreased from 16% in February to 8.9%.

The poll also found that 6.5% of the respondents plan to vote for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is in alliance with the AKP.

If the parliamentary elections were held this Sunday, the rest of Turkey's parties would receive less than 2% of votes each, the poll indicated.

When asked about their favored presidential candidate, 55.1% of the interviewees said they would vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the single presidential candidate of the Turkish opposition People's Alliance.

Meanwhile, 44.9% supported the candidacy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The poll was conducted among 1,770 people aged 18 and over in 26 Turkish provinces from March 6-7.

Kilicdaroglu pledges to end Erdogan-era 'madness'

On Tuesday, Kilicdaroglu pledged to "end this madness" and make Turkey a peaceful nation where its various communities can coexist.

"Today, we are very close to overthrowing the throne of the oppressors," he told his party during his last parliamentary address, as he referenced almost two decades of Erdogan's presidency.

Kilicdaroglu added that "together, we will end this madness."