Turkish opposition’s Table of 6 are discussing their 3 names candidates which one of them will face Erdogan at the upcoming elections
The six-party table of the Turkish opposition is heading to nominate its joint presidential candidate next Thursday, at a time when its leaders have intensified bilateral meetings, with anticipation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement that the elections will be held on May 14.
The leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kamal Kilicdaroglu, met with the head of the Good Party (IYI), Meral Aksener, in a closed meeting between them that lasted an hour and a half.
Kilicdaroglu only described the meeting with Aksener as positive, while the leader of the Good Party confirmed that the issue of the joint candidate was not discussed at the meeting.
On Thursday, a meeting of the leaders of the six parties, “Republican People (CHP)”, “Good (IYI)”, “Happiness (Saadet)”, “Future (Gelecek)”, “Diva” and “Democratic”, will be held, hosted by the leader of the Happiness Party, Temel Karamoulaoglu.
Sources in the Republican People’s Party that Kilicdaroglu refused, at the meeting of the executive body of his party, to disclose the details of his meeting with Aksener, but he indicated that the joint candidate would be determined on Thursday.
An official in the opposition party stated that the candidate will be determined at the meeting of the leaders of the six-party table on Thursday, but it may be announced to the public at a later time, and it is likely that the presidential candidate will be Kilicdaroglu.
He added, “I don’t think there will be any problems about the candidate on the table anymore, and the issue will be resolved on March 2nd… Kilicdaroglu confirmed that his meeting with Aksener was positive, and he was in a good mood, and I think he will be the candidate… He may Mrs. Meral also expresses her criticisms at the table, but in the end a compromise will be reached”.
A source from the Good party said that, “Mr. Kemal didn’t address the issue of his candidacy in his meeting with our president, and during the meeting the discussion took place on the political agenda and the situation after the earthquake and the way to manage it”.
In turn, the spokesman for the Good Party, Korsat Zorlu, said, on Tuesday, that “the leaders will determine the candidate who will become the thirteenth president of Türkiye at Thursday’s meeting. We’ll show this will and share it with our people as soon as the matter becomes certain”.
The leader of the Saadet Party, Temel Karamoulaoglu, confirmed in an interview on Turkish TV100 channel that the candidate’s issue wasn’t on the agenda in the past periods, and it was discussed in a side frame, but there was no serious discussion about it.
He added that some party leaders referred to this issue, and Kılıçdaroglu, Ekrem Imamoglu and Mansur Yavas were on the agenda, and we will discuss this in the next meeting, and we will determine how to announce the joint candidate.
CNN Turk stated that the good party held an expanded meeting of its executive body, in which all options regarding the presidential candidate were discussed.
CNN Turk explained that an evaluation was made regarding the names of three, namely: Kılıcdaroglu, Ekrem Imamoglu, and Mansur Yavas.
CNN Turk indicated that the assessments indicated that there are those who believe that Yavas didn’t want to run, so he has become outside the agenda, and there are those who mentioned that Imamoglu is facing a judicial decision, and if it is approved, there will be a problem, so his candidacy may not be much preferred anymore.
As for Kılıcdaroglu, there are those who saw that it’s not possible to see an approach that makes the opposition strong in the field.
Sources confirmed that in the meeting of the executive body that was held at the headquarters of the Good Party, the issue of the candidacy of Kilicdaroglu, Imamoglu and Yavas was discussed.
There are three names that were talked about, as Kilicdaroglu didn’t say that he was the candidate, but he is being discussed now, and this has been evaluated.
The 6 parties’ leaders will sit down and make a decision and reach an agreement, after this stage there will be no surprising names, and the table of 6 won’t fall apart, however, the public opinion of the Good Party confirms going to the elections with a joint candidate from the six-party table, while respecting the decision that the six-party table will take in this regard, according to CNN Turk.
The Happiness Party, Temel Karamoulaoglu, or the leader of the Democratic Party, Gultekin Uysal, may put Kılıçdaroglu’s name on the table at the next meeting to be the joint candidate, according to sources.
It was remarkable the sudden response of the mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, who distanced himself from talking about the issue of running for the presidency throughout the last period, to respond to a question in a television interview, regarding his name being put forward as a candidate, and he said: “The leaders of the six-party table will take the appropriate decision, and if they decide to nominate me, it will be one of them… It’s my duty and I will abide by it”.
In the context, the leader of the Victory Party, Umit Ozdag, said that his party will form an alliance with the Homeland Party, and their presidential candidate will be Muharram Ince.
In an interview with Haber Turk, Ozdag confirmed that the Victory Party will comfortably pass the required threshold in Parliament.
In response to a question about his abandonment of Yavas’s candidacy, Ozdag explained: “We, as a party, cannot nominate him… If the Republican People’s Party does that and nominates him, we won’t present a candidate, and we will support him”.
