Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh demeanor, abrasive manner and increasingly authoritarian tendencies continue to keep him in the negative limelight. It seems he has started to grate on nerves even within his Justice and Development Party (AKP). There is evidence that not everyone in the party is happy with the way he is conducting himself.

Political observers have started wondering if Erdogan is unwittingly pushing President Abdullah Gul, a co-founder of the AKP whose term as president ends next year, into the foreground politically as an alternative leader capable of dousing the social tensions he has caused.

Turkey faces local and presidential elections next year, and general elections in 2015. Gul has intimated that he plans to remain politically active, although it is still not clear in what capacity. Erdogan, for his part, is expected to run for president since the AKP charter does not allow him to become prime minister again.

There is also visible discomfort in the AKP over Erdogan’s apparent disregard for senior members of the party. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, a veteran Islamist politician and another co-founder of the AKP, is the latest to acknowledge this. He came out on the state-owned TRT channel on Nov. 8, during an official visit to Belgrade, blasting at Erdogan with no holds barred.