Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party has won a majority in the country’s parliament, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
The Turkish news agency published preliminary results that showed AK Party won 266 seats, while the main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) won 166 seats in parliament.
Reporting from Izmir, Al Jazeera’s Omar Hajj said the AK Party won the majority despite losing the overall number of parliamentary seats.
“The number of AK Party seats in parliament has decreased from 296 to 266,” said Hajj.
“The [coalition led by] Republican People’s Party won 166 seats, but it did not get these seats alone. This means they only have 135 seats,” he added.
Final results were expected to be announced by 3pm (12:00 GMT) on Monday.
“About 1,500 ballots coming from abroad have not yet been counted,” Al Jazeera’s Farah al-Zaman Shawki, reporting from Ankara, said.
“So we do not yet know if the Supreme Election Council will announce another round of elections,” said Shawki.
Presidential race headed for run-off
Meanwhile, the presidential election is likely headed for a run-off vote after Erdogan and his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu failed to cross the 50 percent threshold needed to win with nearly all the votes counted. Erdogan garnered 49.4 percent of the votes and Kilicdaroglu received 45 percent of the ballots, with more than 99 percent of the votes counted.
Both Erdogan 69, and 74-year-old Kilicdaroglu said they were ready for the run-off vote scheduled for May 28.
Political analyst Ali Carkoglu says Erdogan has “the momentum behind him” following Sunday’s polls.
“Erdogan maintained his base of support in the heartland of Anatolia; although he lost some support in the southeast, he still maintained the central Anatolian provinces. He also maintained some credible level of support in the big cities as well,” Carkoglu told Al Jazeera.
“He was very successful also in the earthquake-hit regions. Some people find it surprising, but he apparently delivered what they expected of him and promises that he will deliver even better in the aftermath of the election.”
Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections were the biggest challenge of Erdogan’s 20-year rule.
This year’s election largely centred on the economy, civil rights and the February earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people.
