Hamdi Firat BuyukSarajevoBIRNMarch 3, 202310:49Opposition alliance again fails to find a joint candidate to challenge authoritarian President, casting doubt about the future of the alliance, as the rift between at least two of the parties deepens.
Left to right, Mansur Yavas, Ekrem Imamoglu, Meral Aksener and Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Photo/Illustration: BIRN
Following a daylong meeting on Thursday, six Turkish opposition parties also known as the Nation Alliance promised to announce a joint candidate on Monday to take on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in presidential elections due by June.
However, in a sign of continued divisions, it has been revealed that Meral Aksener, leader of the Good Party, the second biggest in the alliance, opposed the candidacy of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP.
“We have reached a common understanding on our joint presidential candidate and the transition process [after the elections]. We will meet again to share the final statement with the public on March 6, after the chairs inform the authorized boards of their parties,” the joint statement of the Nation Alliance said.
However, following the meeting, a war of words started between Good Party members and other opposition parties about a joint candidate and about the future of the Nation Alliance.
“Nation is bigger than the five,” Umit Dikbayir, Vice President of the Good Party wrote on Twitter, criticising the other five parties in the alliance.
It is reported that all five other parties had agreed on the presidential candidacy of Kilicdaroglu but Aksener opposed it.
Following the quarrel, Aksener announced that she will convene her party’s board and all provincial branch chairs to discuss the joint presidential candidate as well as the Good Party’s role in the Nation Alliance.
Aksener was expected to make an announcement on Friday.
Kilicdaroglu, on the other hand, surprisingly decided to meet left-wing parties to gather support in leftist and Socialist circles. On Friday he was due to visit the headquarters of the Workers’ Party of Turkey, TIP, and the Left Party.
The Nation Alliance consists of the main opposition social democratic CHP, the right-wing Good Party, the conservative Felicity Party, SP, central-right Democratic Party, DP, liberal DEVA Party, and Islamist Future Party.
The six have agreed to turn the presidential system introduced by President Erdogan back into a parliamentary democracy if they win.
However, over more than a year, the six parties have failed to agree on a champion to challenge Erdogan after several names were discussed, including CHP leader Kilicdaroglu, Good Party leader Aksener, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas.
President Erdogan has hinted that general and presidential elections will be held on May 14 but the exact date of the elections are still to be announced. By law, elections have to be held by the end of June.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
