İYİ Party founding convention, 2017

İYİ Party leadership election, 2017
25 October 2017
Registered 100 founding members

 
Candidate Meral Akşener
Party İYİ
Delegate vote 100
Percentage 100%
Elected Leader

Meral Akşener

The founding convention of the Turkish İYİ Party was held on 25 October 2017, on the same day as the party's establishment. Meral Akşener was declared the party's first leader unopposed, having long been established as the de facto leader of the dissident nationalist movement of politicians that had split from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) throughout 2016.

Background

Since the November 2015 general election, several politicians from the MHP openly announced leadership challenges against MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli for his poor electoral performance, which had resulted in the party losing half of its MPs in the Grand National Assembly. The most prominent leadership candidate, Meral Akşener, joined forces with other candidates to institute changes to the MHP constitution in order to allow for leadership challenges. This led to a series of attempts to hold extraordinary congresses throughout 2016, with one eventually being held on 19 June 2016 but being later nullified by court.[1] With the MHP executive emerging victorious after the struggle, Akşener and all the other candidates were later suspended by the party.[2]

Following the 2017 constitutional referendum, where the former-MHP dissidents united to oppose the constitutional changes brought forward by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the MHP, the dissidents united under Akşener to form a new, centrist political party. Following months of preparation, the İYİ Party was launched on 25 October 2017.[3]

Leadership election

Meral Akşener officially handed over the party's foundation documents to the Ministry of the Interior on 25 October.[4] The party's 100 founding members convened following a public declaration of establishment to elect the party leader, with Akşener being the only candidate and thus being elected unopposed.[5]

References

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