IT IS rare for somebody who wins more than 40% of the vote to feel beaten. But after the Turkish general election on June 7th that is the fate of the Justice and Development (AK) party and, even more so, of Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured), its charismatic and worryingly autocratic founder. As head of state, Mr Erdogan is supposed to stand above party politics, but he campaigned shamelessly for an AK supermajority that could change the constitution to create a strong executive president (ie, himself). The verdict? AK’s support fell from almost 50% in 2011 to 40.9% and the party lost its majority in parliament.
By slashing AK’s share of the vote and, especially, by putting the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) well over the 10% threshold for parliamentary seats, Turks have unambiguously repudiated Mr Erdogan’s ambitions for a strong presidency. Most of them now dislike the sectarian Sunni rhetoric, the intolerance of opposition and the stench of corruption that, after 12 years in office, have come to characterise Mr Erdogan’s rule.
Although the election result has created big uncertainty over the formation of a new government...
from The Economist: Leaders http://ift.tt/1MsFVZv
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