İYİ Party elects parliamentary heads under new leadership

ANKARA

The İYİ (Good) Party has elected its parliamentary leaders in a recent meeting chaired by Müsavat Dervişoğlu, the party's newly elected leader.

The party's transition in leadership has culminated in the selection of Istanbul and Balıkesir MPs Buğra Kavuncu and Turhan Çömez to the key positions.

Both Kavuncu and Çömez had contested as mayoral candidates for their respective cities in the local elections held on March 31. However, the victories were clinched by the candidates of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Ekrem İmamoğlu in Istanbul and Ahmet Akın in Balıkesir.

The İYİ Party's leadership underwent a change last week during an extraordinary congress. Dervişoğlu, a former parliamentary leader of the party, emerged victorious after a three-round election process, securing 611 of 1,159 valid votes against Koray Aydın.

The transition in leadership was prompted by Meral Akşener's decision not to seek reelection, following the party's electoral setback in the local elections.

The İYİ Party's vote share experienced a decline from 7.3 percent to 3.77 percent, with its only success registered in Nevşehir.

The outcome led to a series of resignations, including Erhan Usta, a previous parliamentary leader, who stepped down citing his support for Aydın during the congress.

"It would not be in line with political courtesy for me to continue in this position after declaring my support for another candidate," he said.