İYİ Party to run solely in all provinces in municipal polls

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has revealed plans to contest all 81 provinces, including key battlegrounds Istanbul and Ankara, in the upcoming local elections without forming any alliances.

The announcement comes as Istanbul and Ankara mayors Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, respectively, declared their intentions to seek re-election in the upcoming March municipal elections.

Akşener made the announcement in a video posted on YouTube by journalist Fatih Altaylı. In response to questions about the potential risk of losing polls in Istanbul and Ankara, Akşener expressed confidence, stating, "We will field such candidates that perhaps our candidates will emerge victorious."

She revealed that the party's general administrative board is set to convene next week, and the final decision will be reached following their approval.

Akşener, whose party was part of the Nation Alliance until the recent May elections, reiterated her concerns, saying, "The 50 plus one [vote] system [in presidential polls], imposed on Türkiye by polarization, is causing significant harm to the country. That's why we are determined not to participate in this alliance system going forward."

The İYİ Party leader also announced that Ümit Özlale, the party's head of development policies, will be running for the position of mayor in the western province of İzmir