Worry among AKP supporters reflected by pro-government columnists in Turkey
While the delay in forwarding the controversial constitutional amendments package to President Erdoğan for approval is viewed by some in the opposition as an implication of AKP members’ doubts about whether they’ll reach a winning ‘yes’ vote in the referendum or not, some pro-government media members have also begun expressing certain worries.
Referendum could be a tipping point for AKP members
Journalist Fehmi Koru, whose closeness to Turkey’s former president Abdullah Gül is known, mentioned a ‘mini-survey’ in one of his recent columns. Reflecting on the hesitations among the AKP members and constitutents, Koru said the following: “Someone who is close to me told me the other day… In a gathering where only people with the similar (political) views were present, they took a survey about the referendum among themselves… The result was 9 saying ‘no’ and 6 ‘yes’… This is a group of AKP members that we’re talking about here…”
Unless what Koru mentions here is merely a ‘chat over tea’, it could be asserted that decisions of a number of AKP members may be a no in the referendum, especially with the influence of certain public figures affiliated to AKP. Koru also defines the referendum as a potential tipping point within AKP.
Things will become tougher for AKP if the proposal is not approved
Leading columnist from pro-governmet Star newspaper Ahmet Taşgetiren has also pointed out the possibility of ‘no’ votes winning in the referedum and layed out possible scenerios if that would be the case. Explaining that elections could be held if the presidential system does not get approved by the public in the referendum, Taşgetiren claimed both HDP and MHP would not be able to pass the election threshold in that case and that AKP would then be able to bring forth the proposal in the parliament again. However, Taşgetiren asserted that after that point it would be ‘too difficult to propose a bill that had been rejected in a referendum’ and also highlighted that the opposition would be even more pushy.
Also known for his comments in support of AKP, Abdülkadir Selvi has clearly expressed in one of his latest articles that AKP members and grassroots were ‘worried.’ Putting aside exaggerating statements such as that of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, where he said around 60-70% yes votes would come out from the referendum, Selvi said in his column that the ‘yes’ side is expected to be at around 46%, adding the supporters of the proposal are advised to ‘come up with a strategy to gain the votes of the Kurds.’
Though there is still no clear cut indication of any side – yes or no – winning over the other, dissent among AKP members is something that has been coming out to the surface much more recently.
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/yandaslarda-hayir-kaygisi-145518.html