Opposition plans distribution of ministries if elected on May 14: Akşener

ANKARA

The distribution of the ministries will be made according to the number of deputies the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the İYİ (Good) Party will receive, the latter’s chair Meral Akşener has said.

“We will, inshallah, win the polls on May 14. The İYİ Party will gain more seats than thought of. We will talk with the CHP [for the ministries],” she said in a televised interview late on May 8.

The two parties are the biggest elements of the six-party Nation Alliance, which is running against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with its joint candidate, CHP chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Akşener explained that the alliance members will be represented in the cabinet but the backbone of the government will be made by the CHP and the İYİ Party. “There are eight essential ministries. The Defense Ministry is the equivalent of the Foreign Ministry, Justice Ministry of the Interior Ministry, Treasury Ministry of the Finance Ministry and the Education Ministry of the Health Ministry,” she said, hinting these ministries will be distributed between the CHP and the İYİ Party.

If Kılıçdaroğlu is elected as the president, the leaders of five parties of the Nation Alliance will be appointed as vice presidents, Akşener said, adding each party will have at least one ministry in the cabinet.

One of the candidates for economy ministry is Bilge Yılmaz from the İYİ Party and his nomination will be approved by all the parties in the alliance, she said, explaining they will have no objection to Muharrem Erkek, the CHP’s candidate for the Justice Ministry.

“But first of all, we have to see the results of the [parliamentary] polls and how many seats we will garner,” Akşener said.