HDP might garner 15 percent of votes in next elections, says top pollster
KONDA Research Company General Manager Bekir Ağırdır has rejected the hypothesis that the government's plan to lower the election threshold to seven percent will curb the support given to the HDP, saying the party might even receive 15 percent of the votes in the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar said that his party would support the nomination of a joint presidential candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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KONDA Research Company General Manager Bekir Ağırdır said on Sept. 8 that there is a possibility of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) garnering a support of 15 percent in the upcoming 2023 general elections.
In comments made to journalist Murat Sabuncu from T24, Ağırdır said that those who are claiming that the HDP will see its votes falling are making false predictions.
He said that a policy based on the exclusion of Kurdish citizens will have a cost.
“Turkey cannot find peace with just the reconciliation of the conservative and secular fractions [of society]. A reconciliation that disregards Kurds is not possible. If Turkey does not solve this issue and Kurds are not included in the reconciliation through their identities, needs and demands -- I am not just saying this with regards to the actors -- there is no chance of building a new life,” he said.
Ağırdır touched upon the government's plan to lower the election threshold from the current 10 percent to seven percent as well as claims that such a move would curb the support given to the HDP.
According to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the HDP receives votes from the base of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in order for it to enter parliament. The government claims that the HDP's votes would be lower if it doesn't receive support from the CHP.
Ağırdır said that the government's prediction does not reflect the truth, a more fraction of the young population will be voting for the HDP in the next elections.
“There is a hypothesis that when the threshold is lowered, the HDP will garner a support of six-seven percent, which is said to be its 'real vote rate.'...The assumption that the HDP's support level will fall from 13-12 percent to seven percent is not right, but instead, there is a probability of the HDP winning 15 percent of the votes with its natural base,” he said.
HDP supports nomination of joint presidential candidate against Erdoğan
Meanwhile, HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar said on Sept. 8 that his party would support the nomination of a joint candidate by opposition parties, against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“The HDP is open to the idea of the nomination of a joint candidate, but let's not discuss the names for now. Firstly, principles and the security of the elections should be talked about,” Sancar said in a program hosted by İsmail Küçükkaya on Fox TV.
Turkey’s opposition parties are currently trying to decide between fielding their own separate presidential candidates or coalescing behind a joint candidate to run against Erdoğan in the upcoming elections.
Prior to the June 2018 elections, opposition parties failed to nominate a joint candidate and instead fielded their own separate candidates in the presidential elections. Erdoğan garnered 52.6 percent of the votes in the first round.