Ruling party poll rate slightly fell to 51.5 percent: Source

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Erdoğan said the ruling AKP’s poll rate fell from 52.9 percent to 51.5, according to sources. DHA photo

The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) poll rate fell from 52.9 percent to 51.5 percent in March, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told his party’s Central Executive Board (MYKY), according to sources.

In their meeting on May 22, several topics including the peace process, the latest surveys, the U.S. visit, Syria and the situation in the region and the Reyhanlı attack were debated, party sources told the Daily News.

The latest survey of the research company KONDA was shared by Erdoğan at the meeting. According to this survey, while the AKP stood at 51.5 percent support, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) had 21 percent, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 14 percent, and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) had 8.5 percent. While the AKP was able to maintain its 50 percent band in the March/April survey, which coincided with the start of the resolution process, the BDP increased to 8.5 percent, bringing it a little closer to the election threshold of 10 percent. While the MHP’s rate also increased, the CHP’s dropped by one point.

In the survey, which the AKP had asked KONDA to conduct before the Nevruz festival on March 21, the AKP’s rate was 52.9 percent, the CHP’s was 22 percent, the MHP’s was 12.7 percent, and the BDP’s was 6.9 percent. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan announced on Nervruz that the PKK militants would start withdrawing from Turkey.

Even though the BDP participated in the elections with independent candidates, its voting rate has been measured at an average of 6 to 7 percent from June 2011 to February 2013, which was the start of the peace process.

Commenting on a separate study on public support for the peace process, Erdoğan said the efforts to find a solution to the Kurdish issue were backed by 65 percent of the population. The willingness to listen to the “wise persons” commissions, stood at 85 percent, Erdoğan said.