[Breaking news update, 3:45 p.m. ET]
With 98% of votes in Turkey’s parliamentary elections tabulated, President Recep Tayyup Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won 41% of the vote, or 259 of the 550 seats up for grabs, semi-official Anadolu news agency reported. The outcome is short of what the ruling party needed to win a majority without a coalition.
[Previous story, published at 11 a.m. ET]
Turkey headed to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election that the ruling party hopes will win it a majority large enough to be able to change the constitution.
The Justice and Development Party, or the AKP, is widely expected to take the most seats — but the question will be how many.
It is looking to win 330 seats, which would allow it to put any constitutional changes to a referendum without needing any votes from outside the party.
But the number it takes could be lower, which would dampen President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hopes of instituting a presidential system in which political executive power lies with the presidency rather than the Prime Minister’s office, as is currently the case.
The AKP needs 276 seats to win a majority and rule without a coalition. A total of 367 or more would allow it to make changes to the constitution without putting them to a referendum. Erdogan has appealed to voters to give the party 400 of the 550 seats up for grabs.
Erdogan became the country’s first directly elected President last year after serving three terms as Prime Minister at the head of the AKP. He lost no time in signaling he would like to see more powers transferred to the presidential palace.
The outcome of Sunday’s vote could, however, be determined by the success of the pro-Kurdish HDP, or People’s Democratic Party.
If it can for the first time pass the 10% threshold needed to gain entry to Parliament, the likelihood of the AKP getting the 330 or more seats it wants is unlikely.
Polls closed at 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET), with results not expected for several hours.
Fatal blasts rock HDP rally
It’s the first time that the HDP has chosen not to use individual candidates but to enter the race as a party. It must secure 10% of all votes cast or face not being represented in Parliament at all.
Two explosions Friday at a campaign rally for the HDP left at least two people dead and more than 100 wounded, the semiofficial Anadolu news agency reported.
The blasts occurred in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, an area populated by many Kurds.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday that one suspect had been arrested in connection with the explosions, according to Anadolu.
There have been other attacks against the HDP during the campaign season. Last month, an explosion rocked the HDP regional office in Adana, injuring six people, according to the party.
High turnout
Twenty political parties and 165 independent candidates are running for office in what is Turkey’s 25th parliamentary election.
More than 56 million people have registered to vote Sunday, according to the government. Turnout is generally high in Turkey for popular elections, averaging above 80% since 1950.