CHP conducts survey: Here is the rate of those wanting an early election

CHP Deputy Chairman responsible for Local Governments and Resilient Cities and Istanbul MP Gökan Zeybek evaluated economic conditions and early election discussions. Stating that an early election is inevitable, Zeybek expressed that the successive price hikes are the government's policy of punishment following the local elections.

'THE END OF SUMMER WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT'

Stating that the lack of a raise in the minimum wage will increase the public's struggle for livelihood, Zeybek spoke as follows:

“Of course, the fact that there has been no raise at the minimum wage level means that the wages of those working in many companies, in the public sector, or in the private sector, which started in January, will continue until the end of the year. Turkey has very rapidly turned into a country of impoverishment where the segments of the population working for wages below the hunger threshold have multiplied. Today, even doctors and engineers, whom we consider to be the highest-paid in the country, have remained at or below the poverty line. Due to the unrealistic figures announced by TUIK, laborers and employees who could not receive the increase they deserved in proportion to inflation, along with nearly 15 million retirees, seem to face a much more difficult and troubled next six months. The main reason for this is that the austerity measures being attempted to be implemented in the country and the closing of certain budget deficits have been loaded entirely onto the backs of laborers, employees, and retirees. The tax laws discussed in Parliament and everything else show that there is a government that does not touch the rich. There is a government that never considers taxing the income earned by those who earn a lot. A government that holds all citizens hostage through indirect taxes. Alongside this, there is a government that resists paying the wages and pensions it should. We are facing a government that treats its own nation cruelly but does everything to please international circles, capital institutions, and the usurious market. The end of the coming summer and autumn will be very difficult for retirees, workers, and employees.”

'THE RATE OF THOSE WANTING AN ELECTION...'

Pointing out that economic conditions have significantly increased the number of those wanting an early election, Zeybek said:

“Economic indicators affect social behavior very quickly. In the surveys we conducted in April, immediately after the local elections, about 90 percent of the electorate said, ‘we have just held a local election and there is no need for a general election for a long time,’ but exactly three months have passed. At the end of the third month, the rate of those wanting an election rose from 12 percent to 57 percent. This looks like it will rise much higher when we reach August-September. No one has a chance to stand against the will of the nation and the demands of the nation. As our Chairman Özgür Özel said, if there is no livelihood, an election becomes inevitable. We see that all employees are becoming increasingly impoverished due to this progressive tax system, because of the tax amounts they are obliged to pay in the 12th month compared to the tax rate they received in the 1st month. A retiree who could buy 25 kilograms of meat with 10 thousand liras in January can buy 20 kilograms of meat with 12 thousand 500 liras in July. In other words, within exactly six months, five kilograms of meat were stolen from the pockets of laborers and retirees by this government and transferred as a price to certain capital groups.”

'WE SEE THE EFFORT TO PUNISH CHP MUNICIPALITIES'

Underlining that the successive price hikes aim to punish CHP-run municipalities, Zeybek warned the government with a ‘red card’ and used the following expressions:

“The ruling party actually cannot find a way out of the whirlpool it has fallen into. When we look at the policies followed by the three different ministers brought to the head of the economy in just the last three years, we see a complete loss of direction and the heavy burdens placed on the backs of the masses as a result of this drift. Therefore, we clearly see that there is an effort to punish CHP municipalities along with the austerity package. CHP municipalities cannot be punished by the government. It is the public itself that will be punished. Because there will be no reduction in the services that CHP municipalities will provide, which reach the entire society, from home care services to city restaurants, from food banks to infrastructure services, from rail system investments to pension allowances to be given to retirees, from student dormitories to student scholarships. They can only cause a decrease in the number of new jobs they will do. But we will achieve this in a short time with the new projects we will develop. I am calling out to the government once again from here. The path it is taking is not the right path. If you choose the path of punishing the nation under the guise of punishing municipalities, this nation showed you a yellow card in the March 31 elections. Now it will show you a red card in an extraordinary way. Moreover, the penalty for this red card may not be two matches, but a long-term ban from the field.”