Good Party's Akşener falls short of expectations with 7 percent vote

Chairwoman and presidential candidate of the Good Party (İP) Meral Akşener stayed below expectations in Sunday's presidential elections and came 4th by garnering only 7.3 percent of votes.

Since Akşener formed the İP with former dissident figures of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), she was seen as a perfect candidate by many in the West and in Turkey who will be able to receive significant support from the center-right and right-wing electorate and to compete with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Despite her evident right-wing background, she was also expected to attract the votes of secularists away from the Republican People's Party (CHP).

During the campaign period, Akşener was also portrayed as the "iron lady" by Western publications, including The Guardian, Time Magazine and The Newsweek, as she is known for her strong character.

The majority of polls also showed that Akşener's support was varying between 10 and 15 percent. However, despite her nascent İP getting 10 percent and earning 43 parliamentary seats, she only garnered 7.3 percent of the votes in the presidential elections, and came fourth after pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) candidate Selahattin Demirtaş, who is currently held in pre-trial detention for terror-related charges. Also, İP fell behind the nationalist MHP, which is Akşener's former party and the İP's main contender for nationalist votes. The MHP, contrary to Akşener, exceed all expectations and garnered 11.1 percent of the total votes. In June 2016, Akşener was dismissed from the MHP along with prominent party figures including Koray Aydın and Ümit Özdağ, after they failed to dislodge party leader Devlet Bahçeli.