So Long Sultan Erdogan

In Sunday’s general election in Turkey, voters snubbed Recep Tayyip Erdogan, their president and founder of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party. Although he is meant to be non-political, Mr Erdogan campaigned for an AK supermajority that could have changed the constitution into a strong presidential system. In fact AK’s vote fell from almost 50% in 2011 to below 42%. Because the pro-Kurdish party also got over the 10% threshold for seats, AK is now short of even a simple parliamentary majority. The likely outcome is an awkward coalition between AK and the MHP, a right-wing nationalist party, under a new prime minister in place of Ahmet Davutoglu. Financial markets swooned because they dislike political uncertainty. But many Turks (and Kurds) cheered. They are fed up with the increasingly intolerant and authoritarian Mr Erdogan—and want new leaders who can pep up the flagging economy and restore Turkey’s battered democratic credentials.