Turkey’s Good Party (IP) leader Meral Akshener has announced that she is leaving the six-party opposition bloc over disagreement over a presidential candidate, the Daily Sabah reported Friday.
“We worked tirelessly to make the voice of the people heard in the opposition, to convey the expectations of the people to the opposition. At yesterday’s meeting, five parties nominated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, while we proposed Mansur Yavas and Ekrem Imamoğlu. Unfortunately, our proposal was rejected,” Akshener said. According to her, in this way the bloc proved that it “does not reflect the will of the people in its decisions,” and therefore the IP is leaving it.
At the same time, Akshener noted that her party will continue to oppose the ruling Justice and Development Party, whose leader is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
She also called on her candidates, Yavas and Imamoglu, who are mayors of Ankara and Istanbul respectively, “to continue to fulfill their tasks” and try to win the elections.
For his part, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, head of the Republican People’s Party, who was nominated by the majority in the bloc, said there was no cause for concern.
“Don’t worry, everything will fall into place,” he said.
In January, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections would be held on May 14.
The elections were originally scheduled for June 18, but Erdogan has repeatedly said the vote could take place earlier. His party has pointed out that the elections in June will coincide with the high tourist season, so it would be better to postpone them.
Pre-election polls show that the battle in both the presidential and parliamentary elections will be fierce.
Western media call the upcoming elections “the biggest test” for Erdogan in 20 years. At the same time, reports note that the opposition’s inability to decide on a single candidate could significantly weaken its position and give Erdoğan an additional chance of victory.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, Turkish opposition
