Akşener to preside over top board amid her withdrawal from leadership candidacy

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener is set to attend her party’s executive board meeting on July 30 amid her withdrawal from leadership candidacy for the upcoming congress to be held in August.

“I will be at our headquarters on Monday [July 30] at 3:00 p.m. to preside over our executive board meeting,” she told a group of her supporters outside of her house in Istanbul on July 29.

Following strong criticisms over her performance in the June 24 presidential elections, Akşener had announced her decision to convene an extraordinary convention in August and said she would not run for leadership. After her announcement, some prominent names in the party have pledged their support to the İYİ Party leader, stating “she will be presented as their nominee with signatures from every party member.”

Meanwhile, dozens of her supporters gathered outside of her house in Istanbul in a bid to persuade her to “return” to party leadership, as she had not left her house since making the announcement.

During the demonstrations, she said she would convene the party’s board on July 30, stocking rumors she would remain as the leader.

“My decision not to be nominated as a chair in the next convention is firm,” Akşener said in a tweet on July 28.

“The İYİ Party needs to continue under new management,” she added.

“We have tired our neighbors,” she said on July 29, addressing supporters outside of the apartment and referring to their the chants, adding that she would be at the meeting in Ankara.

Her newly founded conservative party gained 7.3 percent of the votes in the July 24 presidential elections.