Mansur Yavas, the candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and İYİ (Good) Party, has emerged as the winner of the March 31 local elections in Ankara, becoming the capital city’s new mayor, with nearly two percentage points ahead of his rival, according to unofficial figures.

The CHP has ousted the ruling party from the post after 25 years, with 49.75 percent of the ballots.

The hotly contested municipal elections in Istanbul will have to wait for the official announcement of the results by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) as both the government and the opposition have claimed victory, although initial results by the election watchdog show the latter’s candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, was ahead of the government’s mayoral candidate, Binali Yildirim, by around 25,000 votes.

According to state-run Anadolu Agency as of late afternoon April 1, the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) nominee, Imamoglu, received 48.79 percent of the votes, while the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Yildirim garnered 48.51, with 99.75 of all citywide ballot boxes having opened and all ballots counted.

Reporter’s code: 50101