In the Turkish presidential elections in 2018, world opinion recognized Meral Akşener, even though she was known inside Turkey as one of the main candidates facing Erdogan, and she had just finished establishing her new party, the “Good” Party, which broke away from the “Good” Party. National Movement,” in October 2017.
At that time, the international media described her as the “Iron Lady,” hoping that she would succeed in removing Erdogan from the leadership of Turkey, but she disappointed hopes by obtaining only approximately 7%!
But this did not affect her leadership of the party, nor her presence in the political scene. Akşener possesses sufficient political experience to make herself a sustainable and advanced address for the concerns of Turkish public opinion. She also has a strong and stubborn personality. However, she often makes mistakes in political calculations and falls out of favor. Her political battles are lost!
Last March, it suddenly announced its withdrawal from the six-party table. Objecting to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu – then head of the Republican People’s Party – running for the presidency.
She also described the table as no longer expressing the will of the people, and tried to persuade either the mayors of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, or Ankara, Mansur Yavaş, to run, but she failed to do so. Then, a few days later, it returned to the table, but what happened left a negative impact on public opinion, which Erdogan later exploited well.
Today, she repeats what happened, albeit in a different way, as the battle is now between her and Akram Imamoglu, whom she considered as a “brother.” This battle erupted on the sidelines of the split in the alliance between her party and the Republican People’s Party, an ally of recent days.
So what happened? What impact will it have on the municipal elections, which will be scheduled at the end of next March?
declaration of war
In words that did not lack frankness, Meral Akşener said: “I see what Ekrem Imamoglu did as a declaration of war, and I agree with it.”
The story began when the “Good” Party made its final decision to run in the municipal elections alone, and not within the “Umma Alliance” that it brought together with the “Republican People’s Party” and other parties.
Akşener declared it clearly: “We will enter the elections alone, and we will compete alone everywhere. And in both Istanbul and Ankara.”
However, this decision was not accepted by some party leaders, so Ibrahim Ozkan, Vice Chairman of the “Good” Party group in the Istanbul Municipal Council, quickly submitted his resignation. Objecting to the decision, he believes that the alliance can at least continue in Istanbul and Ankara in particular, so that they do not return again to the control of the Justice and Development Party.
But surprisingly, Ozkan was re-elected again, and the party’s decision was to transfer the members who chose him to the Disciplinary Council, which forced them to submit their resignations from the party.
For her part, Akşener considered that Ekrem Imamoglu, standing behind these resignations, is an instigator and supporter, describing what is happening as a “declaration of war” and “interference in the party’s internal affairs.”
She took the opportunity to remind public opinion that she was the one who tried to convince Imamoglu and Mansur Yavaş to have one of them run for the presidency instead of Kılıçdaroğlu, but they – and her words – “were afraid and did not accept that, they did not accept what the nation wanted”!
Ekrem Imamoglu was quick to describe what is happening as a “new game,” saying: “Some friends are deceived, and sometimes they can issue sentences that exceed their limits.”
Here it must be recalled that Imamoglu often described his relationship with Kılıçdaroğlu as being like a “father and son” relationship, but he nonetheless strongly participated in his ouster from the presidency of the Republican People’s Party, in favor of Özgür Ozil!
Disintegration and weakness
The disintegration and weakness of the Turkish parties is part of the general party scene. There are parties that were once full of hearing and sight, and succeeded in reaching power, but over time they became extremely weak, such as; The “Motherland” party, which was founded by Turgut Ozal, brought it to rule the country for quite a while.
There is also the “True Path” party, which took power under the leadership of Suleyman Demirel, and again under the leadership of Tansu Ciller, the first female prime minister in Turkey’s history, and there is also the “Democratic Left” party led by Bulent Ecevit.
It seems that someone is trying to put Akşener and her party on the brink of the abyss. To push her to withdraw from the decision to run in the municipal elections independently, or to face her fate towards more defections that may lead to the disintegration of the party, or to force her to resign, especially since it is not the first time that she has caused a crisis within the “Nation Alliance”, as it was preceded by the crisis of her withdrawal. From the hexagonal table.
Taking into account that Ekrem Imamoglu, he is interested in the alliance remaining without any disturbances or even without Miral, but with the survival of her party, not only for the sake of the municipal elections, but all the way to what is more important, namely the presidential elections in 2028, which will be held without Erdogan, after his death. The two constitutionally permitted periods. Imamoglu hopes that these elections will constitute the gateway to the presidential complex.
Allied disputes
The differences between Meral and Imamoglu will remain a dead letter – as it is said – unless the Justice and Development Party takes advantage of them and turns them into electoral gains in its favor, especially in Istanbul and Ankara in particular.
But the party has real challenges in the two most important cities, including:
1- Choosing two candidates who enjoy popular satisfaction, taking into account the specificity of each city. Istanbul needs a candidate coming from a service background that its people know, and who has the ability to implement new projects that advance the city, especially in the areas of transportation, and urban transformation related to rebuilding old homes to confront the potential earthquake.
2- Achieving clear breakthroughs in the Kurdish bloc in Istanbul, and taking into account the national identity of the residents of Ankara.
3- Paying attention to the youth segment, as Akram Imamoglu has proven, so far, his proficiency in dealing with this segment, whether on social networking sites, or through the various events that he organizes for them.
Finally; An important question remains: Is it possible for Erdogan to seek to include the “Good” party in the “Public Alliance” that he leads?
theoretically; There is nothing to prevent this, as Erdogan had previously – long before the presidential elections – called on Miral to join the “Public Alliance”, and it seems that he was responsible for convincing his ally, Devlet Bahçeli, to take that step, but she refused, so what is preventing the conversation from being renewed once again? Other?
In Turkey, party life, whether at the level of divisions or alliances, is no less heated and exciting than any elections held there.
