Kılıçdaroğl urges party organizations to be ready for possible snap election

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has instructed the party’s senior executives and party organizations to be ready for a possible snap election, Turkish media reported on Thursday.

Kılıçdaroğlu on Wednesday attended a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Board (MYK) and listened to presentations by MYK members on their preparations for a potential snap election.

“All our organizations will be ready for a potential snap election. We will govern Turkey in the coming term. Make your preparations accordingly,” Kılıçdaroğlu told the MYK members.

Kılıçdaroğlu’s call came at a time when a recent survey revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Public Alliance, which includes his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), would have received a nationwide vote of 36.6 percent if a general election were to be held in June.

When asked “Which political party would you vote for if a general election were to be held this Sunday?” 29.3 percent of respondents said they would vote for the ruling AKP, while only 7.3 percent said they would support the MHP, which is below Turkey’s election threshold, according to a survey conducted by the Ankara-based MetroPoll between June 19 and 23.

Turkey has a 10 percent election threshold, which means if a party fails to get 10 percent of the national vote in the general election, they lose the opportunity to be represented in parliament.

While the AKP-MHP vote would have stood at 36.6 percent in total in a June election, the parties comprising the rival Nation Alliance — the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the nationalist İYİ (Good) Party and the Islamist Felicity Party (SP) — would have received 30.4 percent in total, with the CHP garnering 19 percent of the vote and the İYİ 10.2 percent.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) stood at 9.7 percent, while former AKP co-founder Ali Babacan’s Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) received 0.9 percent of the vote.

In the last general election, held in June 2018, the AKP garnered a nationwide vote of 42.6 percent. However, public surveys have increasingly been showing the party’s public support to be slipping.