HDP could be Turkey’s 3rd biggest party, says pollster head

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

The Kurdish problem-oriented Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) could become Turkey’s third biggest political party, according to the head of the polling company which had made the most accurate estimations prior to the June 7 parliamentary election. 

As the country is getting ready to go to the polls again after just a few months, Özer Sencar, the head of Metropoll, a company which conducts surveys, said the HDP could become the party which gets the third most votes in the upcoming snap elections. 

“When we finalized our field work and conducted more than half of our data entrance, we saw that the HDP has achieved a great increase in its votes… My opinion is that if the current data comes before us in the forthcoming process, then the HDP can be Turkey’s third biggest party,” Sencar said, during a live show on private broadcaster CNNTürk on Aug. 18. 

According to official results announced on June 18 by the Supreme Election Board (YSK), the Justice and Development Party (AKP) received 40.66 percent of the total votes in the June 7 election, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) won 25.13 percent, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won 16.45 percent and the HDP won 12.96 percent.

Stating there was a threat of the HDP becoming the only party to receive Kurdish votes in the country, Sencar said the government, state and most importantly President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had made a great mistake which caused Kurds to turn away from the AKP. 

“If the HDP becomes the only party for the Kurds, which have around 17 to 18 percent of the voters, this will be extremely wrong for the future of the Turkish Republic,” Sencar said, adding either the AKP should continue being a party for Kurdish voters or the CHP should see this wrong act and give the impression that it can also be a party for Kurds. 

In the June 7 election, the AKP won 258 seats in the 550-seat parliament, the CHP 132, while the MHP and the HDP each garnered 80.

The AKP therefore failed to secure the majority in the 550-seat parliament required to rule alone and tried to form a coalition government, first with the CHP and afterwards with the MHP. Both attempts failed and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu returned his mandate to form the government back to Erdoğan on Aug. 18.