Poll: AKP’s voting rate down by 9.4 points since the 2018 elections

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The Socio-Economic Field Research Center has shared the results of its election poll conducted across Turkey on April 1-4, 2022.

2,010 people from İstanbul, Ankara, Adana, İzmir, Bursa, Konya, Mersin, Samsun, Antalya, Erzurum, Ağrı, Diyarbakır, Urfa, Mardin, Batman, Şırnak, Van and Adıyaman answered the questions of the center.

The results have shown that the voting rate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has dropped to 28.9 percent and that of its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has dropped to 6.1 percent.

When the respondents were asked about the most important problem of Turkey, 62.7 percent said that it is the "economic crisis and unemployment". 11 percent referred to the "absence of democracy", 9.9 percent to the "current state of the legal system", 8.1 percent to the "Presidential system" and 4 percent to the problems pertaining to the education system.

In response to the question "If we have general elections this Sunday, for which party would you vote," 28.9 percent opted for the ruling AKP, 26.1 percent opted for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and 10.1 percent opted for the opposition İYİ Party.

While the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is expected to receive 9.6 percent of the votes, the AKP-ally MHP's voting rate stands at 6.1 percent, that of the DEVA Party at 3.3 percent, the Future Party at 1.2 percent and the votes of the Felicity Party (SP) at 0.5 percent.

7.8 percent of the respondents said that they were "undecided" while 5.6 percent said that "they would not go to the polls".

When these results are compared with the 2018 general elections, the AKP seems to have lost 9.4 percentage points, the MHP 2.5 percentage points and the CHP 2.9 percentage points. As for the İYİ Party and HDP, their voting percentages have been up by 0.5 points.

Snap elections?

When the respondents were asked about the necessity of a snap election in Turkey, 59.6 percent answered in the affirmative while 25.4 percent said that there is no need for snap elections. 15 percent were undecided.

In response to the question "How much do you think the Kurdish question affects the below problems," over 50 percent of the respondents said that it affects democracy. While nearly 49 percent indicated that it affects the legal system, this rate was 33 percent for the economy.

"In the current situation," 36.2 percent of the respondents said that they would vote for the opposition Nation's Alliance of the CHP and İYİ Party and 34.9 percent said that they would vote for the ruling People's Alliance of the AKP and MHP. 15.7 percent indicated that they would vote for an alliance only in the event that the party they vote for is a part of the alliance.

6.7 percent would definitely not vote for an alliance while 6.5 percent expressed that they were undecided.

Lastly, 45.5 percent of the respondents welcomed the "return to the reinforced parliamentary system proposed by 6 political parties" and 33.7 percent found the program negative. (RT/SD)