Freshly recovering from a public dispute that finally saw them settle on a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, Türkiye’s six-party opposition alliance is now facing yet another dispute in the form of the People's Democratic Party (HDP): a party facing a potential ban for its ties to the PKK terrorist group.

A day after the alliance put aside differences and internal strife to endorse candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition’s Republican People's Party (CHP), the bloc’s second-largest and nationalist Good Party (IP) on Tuesday shut down any possibility of embracing the HDP.

"The CHP can have talks with the HDP. Everyone should respect the relations between other political parties but the HDP can never join the alliance or be given a ministry if we win," IP Chair Meral Akşener told private broadcaster Habertürk on Tuesday evening.

Akşener herself has been in the spotlight over the past week for her abrupt split from the alliance over her unwillingness to nominate Kılıçdaroğlu as candidate due to her favoring of CHP’s popular Ankara and Istanbul mayors Mansur Yavaş and Ekrem Imamoğlu. She backtracked on Monday when her proposal to have the mayors as Kılıçdaroğlu’s vice presidents instead was accepted and the bloc, officially dubbed the National Alliance, reunited to rally behind the CHP leader.

Akşener governs a nationalist party that analysts say would shun open support for the HDP and she personally dismissed any collaboration with it.

The HDP, despite being the third-largest in Parliament, has so far been excluded from the six-party coalition for the same reason. It has previously floated the idea of fielding its own candidate in the absence of talks but a co-chair of the HDP, Mithat Sancar, said the party was reconsidering that after last month’s earthquakes that claimed over 46,000 lives in Türkiye’s southeast.

If the CHP were to court the HDP to replace IP votes after last week’s clash, Akşener said her party would have respected the decision but left the table for six "for good."

"I’m on the side of honesty and openness. If the CHP wants dialogue, they can have it but they cannot bring the HDP’s demands up to the alliance, not now, not after (the elections)," she said.

"Our red line regarding the HDP is the same as all Turkish citizens; it is respect for the integrity of the law, the first four articles of the Turkish Constitution and the emphasis on unity and solidarity in Türkiye," she noted, despite her emphasis on the National Alliance "representing all social and political factions in Türkiye being its most critical aspect."

'Fine balance'

Hours after Monday’s announcement, Sancar also invited the bloc to hold talks that might pave the way for HDP supporting Kılıçdaroğlu.

"Our goal is democracy, justice, freedom. Basically, we want to talk about principles," he told broadcaster Habertürk. He argued the HDP played "a key role in creating political balances and talks should take place in the open, not behind closed doors."

A senior National Alliance party official, however, told Reuters that Sancar’s invitation was "a little early," adding the issue of how the HDP provides support was set to be the opposition's biggest problem.

"HDP support is extremely critical," he conceded but added that it could undermine backing elsewhere.

A senior figure in another alliance party said public HDP endorsement could cut IP support by five percentage points and CHP by two-three percentage points.

Some polls put the opposition alliance ahead of the ruling coalition of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and People’s Alliance partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) but they generally point to a tight race. Indeed, the latest surveys showed a three-point increase exceeding 41% in the AK Party's votes.

The HDP has about 10% support nationwide and the other co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, currently jailed on a myriad of charges mostly terrorism-related, previously urged his party to back the National Alliance’s candidate, as well. The party is already considered a "hidden partner" in the table for six due to the CHP’s previous attempts to attract its mainly Kurdish voter base and hold "informal talks."

Kılıçdaroğlu in a speech on Tuesday, however, did not refer to the HDP, and said that the other five parties would help seal victory.

When asked in a later conference with reporters on whether he would indeed pay the HDP a visit in his tour to garner support for the opposition’s electoral roadmap, the CHP leader avoided the question, saying instead he would travel to the earthquake-hit zone for the fourth time to address ongoing problems.

"A very fine balance has to be found here. Otherwise, there may be a price to pay. Votes coming from the HDP may be matched by those lost in the alliance," the second alliance official said.

Vice presidency

As for the controversial post of the vice presidency that would see the leaders of the five other parties, as well as Yavaş and Imamoğlu, aiding the president, Akşener said the distribution was not yet "clearly explained."

"But we will. Kılıçdaroğlu and the two mayors are now on the same level. As his partners, their priority will be the presidency, different from the rest of us," she said.

Regarding her potential vice presidency or prime ministry, Akşener said, "We will all be appointed, essentially, as per today’s Constitution. But to highlight how serious we are about this challenge, we are not regular deputies running for the post."

Türkiye’s presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 14, with Erdoğan dispelling rumors that the vote may be postponed in the aftermath of the Feb. 6 disaster and confirming on Monday that the official process would begin later this week.