Good Party urges all provincial branches to resign in reorganization effort

The Good Party (İP) called on all provincial branches to step down in an astonishing move to go through a reshuffling period following the disappointing performance in the June 24 elections, reports said.

The İP Party requested the resignation of all provincial chairmen and administrations for revisions to be made in provincial organizations. On the other hand, party resignations came from western İzmir province. İP party İzmir Provincial Vice Chairman Mehmet Ağırbaş and Provincial Board Member Serkan Uçma resigned from the positions and party.

According to the information in Turkish media, the İP Council was convened Thursday at the headquarters of the party under Chairwoman Meral Akşener. At the meeting, a decision was taken to call on all provincial chairmen to resign in order to allow for the revision work of the party's regional organizations and speed up the work to be done. The decision was forwarded to the provincial organizations with a letter signed by Koray Aydın, Vice Chairman in charge of the Organizational Affairs.

It is reported that the İP Party decided that a comprehensive revision before the local elections became urgent. In the letter, in line with the recommendation of the İP Party Presidency Council, all provincial presidents were urged to act responsibly and submit their resignations to the general headquarters.

The party's problems began before the June 24 elections as some prominent members resigned from parliamentarian candidacy due to their uneasiness over their positions in the candidate lists. The İP, indeed, has been reeling under intraparty unease and an unstoppable wave of resignations. Affected by the resignations from party administration and local branches both before and after the June 24 elections, the party was dealt a heavy blow earlier following the resignation of three founding party members, who have been regarded as heavy guns for the İP.

The members that resigned - Yusuf Halaçoğlu, Özcan Yeniçeri and Nevzat Boz - shared a statement to the press regarding their resignations holding the party administration accountable for the unsuccessful results of the June 24 elections and blamed them of "disloyalty" in preparing the deputy lists. The party's chairwoman, Meral Akşener, gained 7.3 percent of the votes in the presidential elections, while the İP garnered 9.6 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections, well below expectations.