Turkey’s local elections — for mayor, municipal councils, and neighborhood representatives — will be held on March 31. At this point, with Turkey’s deepening process of fascization, every election is treated as a referendum on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rule, and discontent is brewing in broad swaths of society.

The main societal issue these days is the economy. While the economy’s structural weaknesses erupted into open crisis some time ago, the regime has not been able to maneuver the country out of the doldrums, providing only palliative solutions to the worst woes.

Most visibly to the majority of the population, the country is plagued by an annual inflation rate of 20.3 percent. The inflation rate of basic consumer goods is even higher. And although the regime tried to present the economic crisis — particularly the currency shock last August, which saw a rapid devaluation of the Turkish lira — as an “assault” by “foreign forces,” this line of argument has been losing its persuasive power. People are, quite literally, hungry, and although many were willing to put up with the dire situation for some time — especially supporters of Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) — the constant assertions that “the worst is behind us” are starting to ring hollow.