​First Update: Voters reject Erdogan at the ballot

TURKEY - In Brief 07 Jun 2015 by Atilla Yesilada

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I expected a close election, but that wasn’t it. AKP won an easy victory, but according to preliminary unofficial results fell roughly 20 seats short of the majority to form a single part government. Pro-Kurdish rights party HDP easily catapulted over the 10% qualifying hurdle, while CHP and to a lesser extent nationalist MHP did worse than poll forecasts. There was one clear loser in the election: Turkey’s president Mr. Erdogan saw his executive presidency dream go up in a smoke, while he might even witness his beloved AKP lose the administration, as well. As of 3:30 am Monday, the most accurate results—not yet sanctioned by the High Election Council were as follows: Party Share of the Seats Vote AKP 40.8 258 CHP 25.2 132 MHP 16.4 82 HDP 13.0 78 There are two news agencies, which still report different results, hence do expect a variation of 0.5 percent and 3-4 deputies in the final results I expect HEC will announce as early as Monday morning. AKP was punished for its poor economic management, divisive campaign and most likely for the abrasiveness of Mr. Erdogan, while HDP got a last minute sympathy vote from an explosion (terror attack) in Friday’s Diyarbakir election rally that cost at least two lives. CHP underwhelmed once again, despite polls showing its populist economic manifesto gained it traction, but thousands of followers flocked to party buildings to celebrate, because it was clear that at least 2% of the party’s vote went to elevate HDP to the parliament, robbing AKP off an estimated 58 deputies. MHP, expected to tally at least 17%, fell slightly short, but added 3 percentage points to its 2011 score with its message of national unity and stopping Erdogan...