Kılıçdaroğlu, Akşener talk ahead of key alliance meeting on presidential candidacy

ANKARA

The leaders of the two biggest parties of the opposition alliance have held an important meeting to discuss the upcoming presidential and parliamentary polls and the potential joint candidates ahead of a critical gathering of the six-party Nation Alliance.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener met in Ankara on Feb. 27. There was no statement after the meeting.

It comes days before the Nation Alliance’s planned meeting on March 2 during which the leaders of the six political party leaders will officially start deliberations on who should be the joint candidate of the opposition alliance.

The Nation Alliance has already stated that it will compromise over a joint candidate to race against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the presidential polls slated for May 14. Among the candidates are Kılıçdaroğlu, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş. The CHP leader has reiterated that he does not support the idea of appointing mayors as presidential candidates.

In the meantime, the CHP Party Assembly unanimously pledged full authority to Kılıçdaroğlu for speaking on behalf of the party in the next opposition alliance meeting to discuss the presidential candidate.

“Our candidate is surely our Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu,” Faik Öztrak, the deputy leader and spokesman of the CHP, told the daily Cumhuriyet on Feb. 27.