Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks for presidency is respectable: İYİ Party leader

ANKARA

It is “very respectable” that the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said he would be honored if the opposition parties offer his nomination for the upcoming presidential elections, İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener said.

But the issue has not been discussed among the six opposition parties yet, Akşener said in an interview on Yeniçağ TV on Sept. 6.

Akşener reiterated that she would not run for presidential elections, but she wants to take the prime minister post in the new “strengthened parliamentary system” if the opposition wins the next general elections.

“I am not a presidential candidate, but willing to be the prime minister if our nation favors. For this, my party has to be the first party. It’s not about bargaining,” she said.

It is Kılıçdaroğlu that convened the six opposition parties and expressed his will to nominate the president within these parties, Akşener stated adding that the CHP and İYİ Party form the Nation’s Alliance and the other parties will decide whether to attend them.

“But the main thing is that we shook hands for the transition to the strengthened parliamentary system, and we announced this on Feb. 28. We have a partnership there,” she said.

“As for the other five friends, namely the leaders, we never talked about it, so they all have the right to be candidates. It will be very respectable behavior. But on the other hand, we declared that we think it is right to present a single candidate. We need to start with a winning candidate,” Akşener added.

On Sept. 5, Kılıçdaroğlu said he was ready to run in the next presidential elections if other opposition parties agree on his name.

“If my name is agreed on, I am ready,” he said in an interview with Fox TV when asked about his possible presidential candidacy in the next elections.

“If agreed, of course. Why should we not be ready? It is clear how the state should be managed. All six leaders have already reached a consensus on how the state should be governed. We will sit, talk, discuss like civilized people,” he stated.

Felicity party (FP) Chair Temel Karamollaoğlu, CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu, Good (İYİ) Party Chairwoman Meral Akşener, Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) Chairman Ali Babacan, Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu and Democrat Party Chairman Gültekin Uysal held their sixth in-person meeting on Aug. 21 as they agreed to reinstate the parliamentary system in Türkiye.