Opposition alliance identifies their presidential candidate profile

ANKARA

The leaders of six opposition parties met for the third time on April 24 at an iftar dinner to discuss the opposition alliance’s strategies for the next elections and express the criteria of their presidential candidate.

“As we have emphasized many times on the presidential candidacy, we will nominate a conciliatory, liberal and meritorious candidate who has internalized democratic values, embraces the entire nation and adopts the principles of political morality,” a joint statement read.

Hosted by Gültekin Uysal of the Democrat Party (DP), the meeting convened Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) chair Ali Babacan, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Meral Akşener of the İYİ (Good) Party, Temel Karamollaoğlu of the Felicity Party and Ahmet Davutoğlu of the Future Party.

The statement on their presidential nominee comes after a recent debate sparked after the DP leader tweeted that the candidate must not be a person that was “a partner in responsibility during the 20-year ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) term.”

The local media reported that Davutoğlu was dissapointed with the statement, which followed a visit by Uysal to the leader of Future Party last week.

In their statement, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the “Strengthened Parliamentary System” that will “restore the prestige of parliament.”

“In this context, we reviewed our efforts to deepen our cooperation against the political engineering that the government wants to do with the new election law,” the statement said, adding that they also exchanged views on the current economic difficulties.

The leaders said they discussed the duties and methods of the working groups on the constitutional and legal framework of the transition to the “Strengthened Parliamentary System,” election security and the basic principles and objectives of cooperation.

In addition, they “condemned” the statement of U.S. President Joe Biden who commemorated the Armenians who died during World War I, noting that this statement made historical facts a tool of political abuse. “We emphasize that the government, which remained silent with current concerns about the first use of the term “genocide” by the U.S. President last year, bears the common responsibility of this grave crime,” they stated.