Amid controversy in the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) about whether dissidents will be able to collect enough signatures to call an extraordinary congress, three main figures, Meral Akşener, Sinan Oğan and Koray Aydın, who are believed to have a chance to oust current Chairman Devlet Bahçeli reportedly joined forces to convince party members to give their support.

According to an article in the Habertürk daily, the three will act in the spirit of "all for one" until a possible extraordinary congress. Former MHP Iğdır Deputy, Oğan, was the first dissident to publicly declare that he will run for the chairmanship. Akşener and Aydın are also assumed to be keen for the role. There were reports in the media regarding Akşener waiting until Nov. 25, the day MHP founder Alpaslan Türkeş was born. Aydın is reportedly moving quietly and making arrangements to collect enough signatures to hold an extraordinary congress. The MHP received 16.3 percent of the vote in the June 7 elections, securing 80 seats in Parliament, but a historic failure saw the party lose 5 percent of its vote in the Nov. 1 snap elections. Rumors abounded following the Nov. 1 elections of whether Bahçeli would resign after the defeat, but he ruled out the chances of him stepping down. Bahçeli last week said he believes his party has not been unsuccessful. "I do not claim that our result on Nov. 1 was a success. However, I wholeheartedly believe that we were not defeated," Bahçeli contended.