Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the head of the main opposition’s Republican People's Party (CHP) and the joint candidate of the six-party opposition bloc Nation Alliance, has launched his preelection campaign with a video promising, "Springs will come again."

In a video shared via his social media accounts on Monday, the presidential runner has vowed he "will not go back on his word."

Kılıçdaroğlu has already commenced his tour of political parties after his nomination was confirmed in early March, visiting his partners in the Nation Alliance, as well as smaller parties like the Left Party, Workers' Party of Türkiye, and the People's Democratic Party (HDP), whose links to the PKK terrorist group threatened to ban it from politics before it can run in the May 14 polls.

After securing their implicit and controversial support, the CHP leader is now looking to pay a visit to his former CHP colleague and now rival Muharrem Ince, the chair of the Homeland Party (MP), on Wednesday.

Ince’s dive into a race that was shaping into the opposition's best chance yet to defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was last-minute and ruffled feathers across the political spectrum.

Ince was Erdoğan’s chief rival in the last election in 2018 but he vanished after garnering 30.6% of the vote share. He represented the CHP because the party felt the more mild-mannered Kılıçdaroğlu had less public appeal. His passionate speeches and combative persona mimicked Erdoğan's own campaign style and drew huge crowds in the last campaign. Hopes were high but the disappointment was deeper.

Ince's defeat was followed by an hourslong silence that he broke by sending a curt text message to a reporter saying simply: "The man won."

The brusque remark created national headlines and contributed to a loss of Ince's popularity in the polls.

But Ince remained undeterred.

He immediately tried and failed to challenge Kılıçdaroğlu for the CHP leadership and then went on a national bus tour to drum up support for his own political brand. Ince's new party resonates most with secular nationalist voters who comprise an important part of Kılıçdaroğlu’s current support base.

"Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu will meet Mr. Ince just as he has come together with other parties. Their topics of discussion will not be any different from talks he had with the others," CHP spokesperson Faik Öztrak confirmed on Monday.

A prominent rumor argues that once together, Kılıçdaroğlu, alarmed by Ince’s potential to chip away at his voter base, will ask him to drop the race and offer him a ministerial position in exchange, something Ince previously named as a "childhood dream."

Ince, who has repeatedly declared he would not withdraw his candidacy, is starting to see an increase in opinion polls in the meantime. Whether he would bargain with Kılıçdaroğlu is yet to be seen.

The CHP spokesperson Öztrak also responded to questions about a potential run-off on May 14, which would take place on May 28 if no candidate secures an absolute lead in the first round.

"We know the vote won’t go into a run-off. The Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will be the 13th president of this country," he said.

While he’s scrambling to convince voters against Erdoğan, who has never lost an election in the past two decades, Kılıçdaroğlu is facing mounting criticism from opponents and allies alike, mostly due to his willingness to embrace the HDP despite its affiliation with terrorists.

Pundits claim the CHP leader is also looking to patch up a possible gap Ince could carve in his voter base with the HDP, which roughly amounts to 10% nationwide, consisting mostly of Kurdish voters. The party is still regarded as a kingmaker in the polls due to this strong backing.

Following a meeting last week, the party’s co-Chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar announced their Labor and Freedom Alliance would not field a candidate and all but cemented their endorsement of Kılıçdaroğlu, even as they grapple with a closure case that casts doubt on its future.

The party is slated to present a final defense to the Constitutional Court of Türkiye (AYM) on April 11; should the court rule for its closure, people facing the verdict will not be permitted to be founders, members, directors or supervisors of another party for five years. However, many argue the HDP could reform under a new party umbrella, and whether their recoup could come before May 14 remains to be seen.

On the opposite side of the ring, Erdoğan and his People’s Alliance, under which his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is partners with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Great Union Party (BBP), have adopted an open-door policy and working to band together with "whoever is willing to support the Century of Türkiye vision."

The alliance is championing long-term goals under the Century of Türkiye, a campaign the AK Party said is aimed at celebrating Türkiye’s 100th anniversary as a republic through innovation and prosperity.

Erdoğan will be sharing the main parameters of the bloc’s election manifesto at the candidate advocacy meeting, where the party will be evaluating applications for parliamentary representatives. He has however previously signaled he would base his campaign on the reconstruction of provinces devastated by the twin earthquakes on Feb. 6, trying to convince voters that only his government – which was behind a construction boom that helped drive economic growth – can rebuild lives.