CHP and  İYİ Party in tough alliance talks for Turkey's local elections

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and İYİ (Good) Party have appeared to be at odds amid disagreements over who to pick as a mayoral candidate for Ankara for the upcoming local elections.

“The leaders meet occasionally. It is natural for these meetings to have ups and downs. Problems may occur and they may take a long time to be solved,” said CHP deputy leader Oğuz Kaan Salıcı on Dec. 11 after the party’s central executive board meeting.

Salıcı declined to comment on reports that the CHP may present Mansur Yavaş, a former CHP mayoral candidate for the 2014 elections, as its candidate for Ankara.

“A meeting was held with Mr. Mansur Yavaş, but we believe that making a statement regarding this matter will be wrong,” he added.

Giving a direct response for every polling district can stall the meetings and the political process, Salıcı said, while adding that alliance talks will continue.

The CHP reportedly suggested that party deputy leader Bülent Kuşoğlu could be İYİ Party’s mayoral candidate for Ankara, sources told daily Hürriyet.

Akşener, who reportedly vehemently opposed the suggestion, said İYİ Party voters will not want to elect a CHP deputy “with a weak political identity.”

The CHP’s suggestion caused unrest in the İYİ Party, the sources added.

The two sides’ disagreement on the names for Ankara, Yavaş and Kuşoğlu, caused tensions in the meetings.

İYİ Party had formed an election alliance with the CHP and the opposition Saadet (Felicity) Party for the June 24 elections to enter parliament. İYİ Party has 40 seats in parliament.