The Turkish opposition alliance on Monday assembled for a much-anticipated meeting to name their presidential candidate for the upcoming May elections following a week of disagreements that ended in a shocking split and a subsequent reunion.

The bloc was expected to announce Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who leads the center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP), as its candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but the choice has not gone down without controversy in the Nation Alliance.

All efforts to present a united front were ruined after one of the biggest parties in the bloc refused to endorse Kılıçdaroğlu last Friday, only to backtrack three days later.

Meral Akşener, the leader of the nationalist Good Party (IP), the second-strongest force in the alliance, said she would not support a Kılıçdaroğlu candidacy and left what had been a six-party bloc.

She accused members of the alliance of pressuring her party and defying the people’s will, saying, "Personal ambition was preferred to Türkiye."

Akşener believes Kılıçdaroğlu, 74, has a poor chance of winning in the elections scheduled for May 14. Instead, she wanted to nominate popular Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu or Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, as both CHP politicians do better in polls than their party leader.

But Kılıçdaroğlu, the long-time leader of the main opposition in Türkiye, was supported by his CHP and the four smaller parties in the alliance. The mayors also backed him, issuing statements reaffirming their commitment to the party chair and the cause of the partnership.

The public split on Friday followed months of simmering discord in the group and was seen by analysts as a blow to opposition hopes of unseating Erdoğan – who has been in power for two decades.

In a last-minute pivot early Monday, Akşener revealed she would rejoin the alliance if either Yavaş or Imamoğlu were nominated.

"I wouldn’t make it a matter of pride and return to the coalition if Mr. Kemal or the bloc will accept the will of the people," she said, claiming that "the figures of these two names in the surveys are much higher than me and Mr. Kemal."

Later in the day, hours before the party leaders were set to announce Kılıçdaroğlu as their candidate, Yavaş and Imamoğlu paid a visit to the IP headquarters to smooth things over and instead left with a proposal from Akşener to serve as vice presidents if the opposition wins the election.

Akşener put forward an "inclusive" proposal, IP spokesperson Kürşad Zorlu told reporters, moments after the two mayors finished their meeting.

"She has conveyed the proposal that the two mayors serve as executive vice presidents," Zorlu said. "Our leader will convey this proposal to Kılıçdaroğlu in the coming moments," he added.

A senior CHP official confirmed the other leaders in the alliance would consider the suggestion, as well.

Akşener’s counterproposal was interpreted as a sign the bloc could overcome the hurdle and reunite after a tumultuous negotiation process and indeed, another IP spokesperson later revealed Akşener would join the other five party chairs at their meeting.

Mayors’ standing

Despite previously throwing their support behind Kılıçdaroğlu in the race for the top office, the two popular mayors both in the past said they would be "honored" to accept the duty of a presidential candidate if the alliance were to ask them to.

Yavaş also on several occasions expressed public support for Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy. Imamoğlu’s nomination, however, is seen as risky due to an ongoing judicial process that could ban him from political office for insulting election officials following his win four years ago.

Erdoğan’s critics have pinned big hopes on the alliance as it would unite parties from a broad – and fractious – political spectrum on one candidate.

When the bloc unveiled its positions in January, it promised a return to parliamentary rule and an end to the presidential system under which Erdoğan has enjoyed far-reaching powers since 2018.

The alliance’s proposed changes would make the president of Türkiye more of a ceremonial head of state by stripping the president’s power to issue decrees, mandating that the president belongs to no political party, and imposing a seven-year term limit.

The opposition announced that they would also campaign to fight rampant inflation. The group aims to reduce inflation to a single-digit percentage within two years.

The alliance also vowed to restore independence to Türkiye’s central bank and committed to pursuing Türkiye’s long-stalled bid for European Union membership.

A day after Akşener’s shock split, Erdoğan, who previously predicted the opposition would fall apart, dismissed the development and reiterated that his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), would stay the set course.

"We decided not to speak on the issue until a second development. Then, as the AK Party, we will conduct the necessary evaluations during our MYK (Central Administration Board) and MKYK (Central Executive Committee and Central Decision Board) meetings and then decide," Erdoğan said.

In the meantime, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), so far excluded from the Nation Alliance despite being the third largest in Parliament, is looking to field its own candidate while trying to stave off a closure case on the sidelines.

In the wake of the opposition’s fracturing, the HDP officials reiterated their commitment to their Labour and Freedom Alliance and revealed the bloc would reconsider the process of determining their presidential nominee.