Akşener says alliance to talk over candidate on Jan 26

ANKARA 

The opposition alliance will start its deliberations on the joint presidential candidate on Jan. 26 at a meeting that İYİ (Good) Party Chair Meral Akşener will host.

In an interview with the Habertürk news portal, Akşener said the leaders of the six political parties included the selection of a joint candidate into the agenda of their this week meeting upon her proposal.

“We have never spoken about the candidate. As you know, we will be the host of the next meeting. I have proposed to start discussing this matter to the leaders during my visits this week. We will now speak about the presidential candidacy,” she said.

Akşener declined to express her party’s preference for the presidential candidate, repeating this will be discussed during the six-way meeting on Jan. 26.

She also recalled that the Nation Alliance will unveil its government program on Jan. 30 at a meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara.

“It will include a very comprehensive study about joint policies, particularly the economy, but at the same time, we will announce that we will make the government altogether. This is a sort of a government program, and a very comprehensive election campaign will be launched on this,” she maintained.

“I found it very important,” she said, adding she is sure that the opposition candidate will be elected as Türkiye’s 13th president.

“But whoever this person might be, he or she must comply with the road map we draw because the president has vast authority. But how the new president will use them and implement democracy during the transition to the parliamentary system will be decided altogether,” Akşener stated.