All eyes in Turkish politics are focused on the major policy statement to be made by IYI Party leader Meral Akşener on August 26. There is no consensus yet in the party about the question every pundit is wondering about: Whether it will form an alliance in the local elections. So, what kind of calculations are made at the party?
In the party, where there is no consensus on the alliance yet,with different ideas regarding the local election strategy being discussed. The leading names of the party, on the other hand, say that the priority is not to emphasize alliance models at this stage, but they do not close the doors to an eventual one completely.
An anonymous front bencher told DW Turkish “Don’t expect a statement from our chairman on August 26, such as ‘the alliance is over’ or ‘we will forge a new alliance’. “Likewise, one should not expect a statement such as ‘We are joining the People’s Alliance,'” he said.
Stating that Chairman Akşener will draw a clear line against the policies of the People’s Alliance in Afyon, he added that a statement about whether or not to take part in the alliance in the current political conjuncture would be “political suicide”.
“When we go out on the street, there is a reaction against us from our own grassroots or from other parties. There are resentments that we need to repair,” he said, adding that the local election process can be discussed if these resentments are repaired by mid-December.
In the IYI Party, the general expectation of the party management and the grassroots is that if there will be cooperation in any province, in reciprocity an IYI Party candidate should be supported in certain provinces by not nominating a candidate by the CHP.
Will Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş be supported?
Meral Akşener announced in March that one of the names of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) and Mansur Yavaş, President of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) Mansur Yavaş, should be a presidential candidate instead of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and left the Nation Alliance table in protest when she was outvoted. Akşener returned to the table by signing the protocol for these two names to become “vice president” after intense negotiations.
Reminding this event, a staff member from the IYI Party said, “Ms. Meral will not take a position against the names we proposed as President or vice-president, and we know that they have a certain level of support in the public.” Stating that Akşener has a good dialogue with İmamoğlu and Yavaş, the staff thinks that the contact between these two names and Akşener will be developed beyond relations with the CHP.
For this reason, it is stated that if İmamoğlu and Yavaş are candidates, it is highly likely that the IYI Party will support them.
There is a different trend regarding İzmir. CHP mayor Tunç Soyer was supported in the province, which was the stronghold of the CHP in the 2019 elections. However, in the 2024 elections, it is considered certain that the IYI Party will nominate a candidate from this province. It has been learned that studies on the opinions of the party organization and opinion polls have been started for the İzmir candidate in the IYI Party.
Source: 26 Ağustos açıklaması: İYİP’de neler oluyor?
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