Leaders of Nation Alliance meet without Akşener, say no development can cover up quake management failure

Duvar English

Five opposition party leaders of Turkey's Nation Alliance on March 4 met without Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener.

The move came one day after Akşener signaled to leave the alliance over not accepting main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s presidential candidacy.

CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu, Felicity Party (SP) leader Temel Karamollaoğlu, Democrat Party (DP) leader Gültekin Uysal, Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party leader Ali Babacan and Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu met in the SP headquarters in capital Ankara, also two days after their last meeting in which Akşener joined.

After the meeting, the leaders shared a joint statement, saying their aim is gaining a victory that has no loser.

“Our alliance, where all segments of society of our country are represented in the widest spectrum, and which our nation has established, is determined to continue its work in the same direction today, in line with those principles and objectives held on the first day,” they said.

The statement also reminded the devastating FEb. 6 earthquakes and said “No development can cover up the suffering our nation is experiencing due to the earthquake disaster and the weakness of the governance that caused these sufferings. We wish God's mercy once again on our citizens who lost their lives, and promise to put an end to all these governance weaknesses and also to take the necessary measures to ensure that all our citizens live in safe cities and secure residences.”

“We have been carrying out a process with common mind, consultation and consensus since the first day we set out. Our goal is gaining a victory that has no loser!” the leaders added.

Lastly, they said they will meet once again on March 6 to announce their presidential candidate and the road map for the transition process after the elections. The alliance want to bring "Strenghtened Parliamentary System" instead of today's presidential regime should they assume power.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are expected to be held on May 14.

After the meeting, Kılıçdaroğlu said in a tweet that “I would like to thank all the chairs, especially Mr. Karamollaoğlu who hosted the meeting where we gathered to bring democracy, justice and peace by combining all the colors of our Turkey. We continue our march with the same faith and determination.”

An important side of the alliance, İYİ Party leader Akşener on March 3 publicly rejected Kılıçdaroğlu's presidential candidacy despite other parties in the alliance agreeing upon him, saying his candidacy is being imposed on the İYİ Party.

This move came one day after six leaders, including Akşener, said they "reached a common understanding" on their joint presidential candidate.

One day later, Akşener said she was supporting CHP mayors İmamoğlu and Yavaş as candidates amid polls that indicate they could perform better against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"İYİ Party has been forced to an imposition in a grabbing way, and forced to make a choice between death and malaria," Akşener said, referring to Erdoğan and Kılıçdaroğlu.

She called Yavaş and İmamoğlu to take on the role and nominate themselves, but both mayors once again announced their support for the CHP leader.

CHP, İYİ Party, Felicity Party (SP) and Democrat Party (DP) founded the Nation Alliance prior to the 2018 elections. Later, the Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party and the Future Party joined the alliance.

The alliance was also known as the Table of Six. The İYİ Party has not officially announced they left the bloc, yet. However, some experts see such a return as not possible.