Akşener re-elected as İYİ Party leader

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party delegates have re-elected Meral Akşener as the party’s leader after she had resigned from her position as the election results have been lower than expected.

At the party’s second extraordinary congress held on Aug. 12, Akşener was elected with 881 votes of 888 delegates as she was the only candidate for the leadership.

The İYİ party has also determined its 80 member general administrative board and 11 member Central Disciplinary Board.

“All political parties that entered the election lost votes but they announced themselves as victorious. Even though we received as many votes as they did, we took the responsibility and withdrew,” she said addressing the criticisms the İYİ Party administration received following the June 24 elections.

The congress came after Akşener had resigned from her post as the party’s leader on July 22. She called for an extraordinary congress and declared she would not be a candidate for the leadership as a response to raising criticisms from the party following the election results.

As the party’s presidential candidate, Akşener had received 7.2 percent of the votes and the İYİ Party had received 9.9, falling short from her party.

After her resignation, her supporters made several demonstrations while the delegates collected signatures to present her as a sole candidate in the congress.

“I came after your call,” she said, addressing the will of the delegates and supporters.

“I had said I would put an end to it rather than be a subject of discussion. I said I would stay behind doors rather than cause trouble. The democratic principle we deem fit for Turkey necessitated that,” Akşener said. “I complied with your call and came,” she said.

“Where were we? Only those who are brave, strong and true believers should stay on our team,” Akşener added.

Meanwhile, the party experienced a major loss from the party management during the period as the founding members Yusuf Halaçoğlu, Özcan Yeniçeri and Nevzat Bor were the latest resignees.

The founding members have criticized Akşener and her administration of being authoritarian, against the party principles. They addressed the election period as the beginning of problems in the party, criticizing the candidate lists and Akşener’s decision to participate in the pre-election alliance with main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

The party’s general administrative board list has seen a major change as 40 of the 80 names have changed.