The Good Party (IP), the second biggest party of the ailing Nation’s Alliance of the Opposition, announced that they would nominate their own candidates in the upcoming municipal elections. The party’s leader, Meral Akşener, had earlier implied the decision, dealing a blow to the alliance led by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
IP spokesperson Kürşad Zorlu told reporters at a news conference in the capital, Ankara, after a long meeting of the party’s executive board that they would act alone in elections in 81 provinces. He said the decision of the party board was approved almost unanimously.
Responding to a question whether the IP would endorse Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, Zorlu said that their decision was “clear” and they would nominate their own instead of the two mayors. The two cities are the most critical for political parties. The CHP boasted a rare success when Imamoğlu and Yavaş won the municipal elections in 2019 from candidates of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which reigned Istanbul and Ankara for years.
On a question of whether their decision not to ally with the CHP in local elections was irreversible, Zorlu said the question reflected “difficult times in Turkish politics.” “We oppose Türkiye to being cornered with this mechanism of alliances and we believe in the Turkish nation. We concentrate on determining our own candidates. With sufficient support to Good Party, Türkiye will be liberated from this restraining policy (of forming alliances),” he said.
The IP cooperated with the CHP and four other parties for last May’s legislative and presidential elections, but not before Akşener exposed a major fallout with CHP leader and later presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Akşener announced before the nomination of Kılıçdaroğlu for the presidential race that the IP would leave the opposition bloc because they did not endorse their proposed candidates: Yavaş and Imamoğlu. She later backtracked, and IP returned to the bloc. The alliance, although differing in ideologies, was formed to end the dominance of the AK Party and Erdoğan in Turkish politics since 2002, but stumbled after Erdoğan secured another five-year tenure, thanks to the barely decreasing public support he enjoyed.
The CHP, which boosted its votes thanks to the alliance, will likely seek to form new ties in the local elections, but so far, none appears on the horizon. Commenting on the IP’s decision on Thursday, Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters that their alliance had already ended after the general elections and they would respect the IP’s decision. On the contrary, the Future Party (GP) of the six-party bloc announced it would field its own candidates in the March vote recently. On Thursday, a lawmaker from the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) said at a news conference that they would like to field their own candidates in some places, but they were open to alliance in others.
Other parties in the bloc remain quiet, but it is unlikely they will nominate candidates due to the low support they each have that forced them to join Nation’s Alliance in the first place.
The opposition will face the powerful People’s Alliance led by the AK Party and its closest ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The two parties will decide which provinces or districts they will nominate their own candidates and in each, the favored candidate from one party will be endorsed by the other. Officials from both parties reportedly began the process of determining candidates and will present a list to President Erdoğan and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli.
Currently, the AK Party retains 810 out of 1,392 municipalities nationwide. The MHP won 231 mayoral seats in the last elections.
The People’s Alliance may also receive more endorsement from parties that joined the bloc in the presidential elections. The New Welfare Party (YRP) announced it would field its own candidates, but the party’s leader, Fatih Erbakan, son of Erdoğan’s political mentor Necmettin Erbakan, signaled that they would be open to proposals to join an alliance. Similarly, the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR), whose clout is high in southeastern Türkiye, announced that they were preparing to field their own candidates but would remain open to alliances.
The municipal elections are a different challenge for political parties, but mostly, they go in parallel with general elections regarding results. The ruling party usually wins most municipalities, though big city elections may differ in results due to diverse demographics. Yet, parties outside the People’s Alliance or Nation’s Alliance have little voter support, as the recent general election showed, and they tend to abstain from fielding candidates. The Homeland Party (MP) of Muharrem Ince, who quit this year’s presidential race at the last minute, is among those more minor parties. Ince, however, recently announced that they would join the local elections and already announced names of candidates for a western city and a district. Nevertheless, Ince told reporters recently that they might not field candidates in each of the 81 provinces as they were unsure of the support they might receive from the voters.
