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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing a runoff later this month after results of Sunday’s elections showed that he and his party defied expectations of winning the first round, the Washington Post reported Monday.

Preliminary results showed Erdogan won 49.4 percent of the vote, while his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu secured nearly 45 percent – neither of them passing the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff.

Meanwhile, election officials said the president’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies retained control of parliament.

The runoff election will be held on May 28.

Sunday’s vote was seen as a referendum on Erdogan’s increasingly autocratic style of governance, with political observers calling it his toughest electoral challenge during his decades-long tenure in power.

Many voters have expressed concern over the poor state of the economy, marked by soaring inflation, and the government’s handling of the catastrophic earthquakes in February that killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey.

While Erdogan remains very popular, he has become an increasingly divisive figure during his tenure: Critics have accused him of eroding Turkey’s democracy through repressive tactics against civil society and the media while moving to consolidate power.

Turkey’s relations with its Western allies have also been strained under Erdogan, who has looked to strengthen ties with Russia.

Kilicdaroglu has vowed to bolster Turkey’s democracy, improve relations with foreign allies and tackle the country’s economic woes.

Still, analysts noted that the preliminary results in favor of the president and his party indicate that Kilicdaroglu will face an uphill battle in ousting Erdogan in the runoff. The incumbent enjoys considerable election advantages – including his control of state institutions and Turkey’s news media.

Even if Kilicdaroglu wins, he would face tough challenges in pushing his policies through the legislature, they added.