İYİ Party leader Akşener quits despite strong support

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party chair Meral Akşener has said her decision to not run for leadership in a convention next month has not changed despite strong pressure from her supporters.

“My decision not to be nominated as chair in the next convention is firm,” Akşener said on her Twitter account on July 25. “İYİ Party needs to continue under a new management.”

Akşener had first announced her decision during a weekend party meeting after strong criticisms over her performance in the June 24 presidential elections. She had announced to convene an extraordinary convention in August, stressing that she won’t run for leadership.

But prominent politicians of the party said the only candidate they support for leadership would be Akşener, suggesting that she will be presented as their nominee with signatures from every party member.

Dozens of party members have pressed Akşener on changing her mind, while a number of them have pitched tents in front of her house in Ankara to show support.

Akşener gained 7.3 percent of the votes in the presidential elections, only two percent less than her own party in the parliamentary polls. She was elected as the head of İYİ Party late 2017.