İYİ Party leader Akşener vows to run in snap presidential elections
İSTANBUL
İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has vowed to run in Turkey’s early presidential election and to collect the 100,000 signatures necessary to be a candidate.
“I know Turkey is tired of tension,” Akşener said on April 18 after the announcement of snap elections.
She stressed that the İYİ Party has convened its first congress on Dec. 10, after which it formed provincial and district party organizations.
“Since then our party has been ready to go in elections. The İYİ Party will run in the election and will win,” Akşener said, adding that the government and the Nationalist Party (MHP) called for early elections because they are “afraid.”
She emphasized that the İYİ Party has convened its congress on time as the election law requires holding a congress for a new party six months in advance in order to be able to run in the next election. However, doubts linger because the party finalized its district congress on Feb. 26 and it is still not clear whether the High Election Board will take this date into account to calculate the necessary six-month period.
According to the constitutional amendment, political party groups and parties that received at least 5 percent of the vote in the last general election will be able to nominate an individual or joint candidate for presidential elections. In addition to this procedure, those who are able to collect at least 100,000 signatures may run for the presidency.
The İYİ Party was founded on Oct. 25, 2017 under the leadership of Akşener, a former senior MHP official who was expelled from the party amid disagreements with Bahçeli.
The party has currently five seats at parliament, made up of four former MHP lawmakers and one former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy.
