Akşener parts ways with ‘Table of Six’

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener broke ranks with five other opposition parties that formed “Table of Six” on March 3 and said her party would not support main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the joint candidate.

“At this point, the İYİ party has been caught in a pinch, forced for imposition, and forced to choose between death and malaria. Of course, we won’t give in,” Akşener told reporters after a meeting she held with her party members.

“As of yesterday, the Table of Six has lost its will to reflect the will of the nation to its decisions,” she said, referring to a meeting of the opposition party leaders.

“At yesterday’s meeting, we finally discussed who would be the joint presidential candidate. Five parties raised the issue of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy,” Akşener said, stressing that the proposal was an imposition on her party. She stated that her party wanted CHP Istanbul Mayor (İBB) Ekrem İmamoğlu or CHP Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş to be nominated as the joint candidate.

Addressing Mansur Yavaş and Ekrem İmamoğlu, Akşener said, “Our nation is calling you to duty.”

“We suggested the names of Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş and İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu, whom we have seen for a long time to be ahead of [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan,” Akşener said.

She underlined that İYİ Party expressed the proposal to determine the joint presidential candidate in a data-based and rational method. “However, this proposal was unfortunately rejected by the others,” she added.

“Don’t worry, all the pieces will fall into place. We continue our way,” Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters on March 3 after the statement of Akşener.

Felicity Party leader Temel Karamollaoğlu hosted Kılıçdaroğlu, Akşener, Ali Babacan of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), Gültein Uysal of the Democrat Party and Ahmet Davutoğlu of the Future Party at his headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara, where they discussed the nomination of a joint presidential candidate.

“As the leaders of the political parties that make up the Nation Alliance, we have reached a common understanding about our common presidential candidate and the transition process roadmap in the 28th parliamentary term and 13th presidential elections,” said a joint statement after the meeting hosted by Felicity Party.

“We will come together again, in an event hosted by the Felicity Party, to share the final statement with the public on March 6, 2023, after the presidents inform the authorized boards of their party committees,” it added.

The İYİ Party held its meeting to discuss the issue on March 3, which followed Akşener’s statement of quitting the Nation Alliance.

Kılıçdaroğlu was often mentioned as the strongest candidate of the alliance.

Yavaş, in a recent statement, underlined that he is focused on Ankara and how his municipality can best help the victims of the devastating earthquakes of Feb. 6. İmamoğlu’s candidacy is risky because of an ongoing case against him that can ban his political career.