Meral Akşener declines İYİ Party leadership bid following election setback

Following an election defeat in 31 March local elections, opposition İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener declared that she would not run for the party leadership at the congress scheduled for April 27 with a surprise announcement on April 8.

In her announcement titled “to the Great Turkish Nation…” via the “X” account, Akşener stated, “I accept the cost we paid within the scope of election results and I am content with the price paid.”

With this statement, Akşener took responsibility for the decrease in the party’s support from 6 percent in the 2023 General Elections to 3.77 percent in 2024, attributing it to the decision to participate in the election as an independent party without being part of any alliance.

After the election, party has decided to convene its congress on April 27.

Shortly after Akşener’s announcement, İYİ Party Parliamentary Group Chairman Koray Aydın and Deputy Group Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu declared their candidacy.

Akşener acknowledges her mistake

In fact, demands for Akşener’s resignation had begun within the İYİ Party as soon as the election results were announced on the night of March 31.

Akşener’s statement three days ago in Nevşehir, the only city where İYİ Party won the municipal election, claiming that some party members she had ensured victory for “by vouching for their integrity turned out to be thieves,” had escalated internal reactions within the party.

Akşener had built her election campaign on accusing CHP, CHP’s former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, rather than focusing on AKP and President Tayyip Erdoğan, to strengthen the party’s identity.

However, it was understood that İYİ Party voters in Istanbul and Ankara had also supported İmamoğlu and Yavaş in the 2024 elections. Thus, according to the claim of CHP leader Özgür Özel a kind of “grassroots alliance” took place, which worked against İYİ Party.

As a result, following the loss of CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu’s seat after the 2023 election, Akşener also resigned from her position after the 2024 election results.