İYİ Party Istanbul chair resigns after failed mayoral bid

ISTANBUL

Buğra Kavuncu, the İYİ (Good) Party's candidate for Istanbul mayor, has announced his resignation as the Istanbul chairman of the party in the aftermath of the local elections held on March 31.

"We have to admit that we completed the elections with a result far below our expectations," Kavuncu acknowledged in a statement released on his X account on April 3.

Kavuncu stated his intention to continue his duties as an Istanbul deputy from the İYİ Party.

In Istanbul, main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Ekrem İmamoğlu received more than half of the votes and secured his second term. Kavuncu finished sixth in the megacity, garnering only 0.63 percent of the votes.

Kavuncu said that his decision to resign aims to facilitate the organization of an extraordinary congress, which the party has decided to hold following the electoral setback. Notably, party leader Meral Akşener has not yet disclosed whether she will stand as a candidate at the congress.

Shortly after Kavuncu's resignation, Burak Akburak, the İYİ Party's deputy leader responsible for local governments, also stepped down from his position.

"I want it to be known that our grand congress will be a congress where it is confirmed that Türkiye's hope is the İYİ Party," Akburak declared on social media.

The İYİ Party, despite not winning any mayoralty in the 2019 elections, played a significant role in securing victories for the CHP candidates in key battlegrounds by abstaining from nominating its own candidate.

However, following last year's elections, the party withdrew from the CHP-led alliance and contested the recent elections independently, fielding its own candidates in all constituencies. The party's vote share plummeted from 7.3 percent to 3.77 percent, with its sole victory in the local elections being in Nevşehir.