Ceos Forecast Continued Akp Rule With Fewer Votes, Hdp To Pass Election Threshold

- A majority of top executives from Turkey’s largest companies believed the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) would be the winner of the upcoming June elections, but the party’s votes would decrease compared to the previous elections, according to a survey by Turkish economy magazines Capital and Ekonomist.

Some 70 percent of the 68 top executives surveyed believed the AKP would continue to rule the country with lesser votes than the previous elections. Another 27 percent of the CEOs believed that the AKP would not continue its single party government in the upcoming period, according to the survey results.

What is more, only 1.5 percent of the CEOs believed the AKP would reach the majority of parliamentary seats, which would pave the way for the party to change the constitution by itself.

According to the survey, 75 percent of the participating CEOs believed the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) would pass the election threshold, which is at 10 percent.

A majority of the CEOs found the electoral promises of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) the most realistic. Some 51 percent of the CEOs said the most realistic promises were given by the CHP, while 29 percent of the CEOs favored the promises of the AKP.

The survey also showed a majority of the CEOs are strongly against the transition to the presidential system in the country. More than 92 percent of the CEOs said Turkey must keep its parliamentary system online and not shift to the presidential system.

For 30 percent of the CEOs, the most urgent economic issues which the new government must concentrate on are the immediate measures that will fuel the economy. This is followed by the preparation of a comprehensive reform package, the acceleration in the membership to the EU process and the peace process, according to the survey. Only 8 percent of the CEOs found the preparation of a new constitution to be an urgent move.

Around half of the CEOs believed the biggest problem in the economy is the slowing down in the GDP growth. Political uncertainty was the biggest problem for 34 percent of the CEOs and the rise in the U.S. dollar’s value for 10 percent of the CEOs.

Some 44 percent of the CEOs said there was a slowdown in their businesses since the beginning of the year, according to the survey results.