The far-right Good Party (İP) is struggling as party members resign to join other parties, especially the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), from which the party originated from.
It was reported yesterday that the İP administration has been worried that its base is melting as a result of the party's alliance with the main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), and indirect cooperation with the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and thus is looking for measures to prevent these losses.
The İP managed to enter Parliament via the alliance with the CHP in the July 24, 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections when the party received only 9% of the votes. The alliance continued in the March 31 local elections as well. However, during the local elections, the HDP was also indirectly involved with this alliance since their interests were the same. As the CHP's cooperation with the HDP has become more and more apparent since March 31, the İP, known for its nationalist tendencies, has seen its concerns peak. İP's base has revealed its discomfort with this alliance by shifting their positions, resigning from the party and going back to MHP chairs.
The latest resignation announcement came from Osman Erusta, who was the deputy Istanbul provincial head of the party.
Previously, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli called on party dissidents who turned out to be İP members to "come back to home," which was welcomed by some.
In the March 31 municipal elections, İP candidates lost in all 22 provinces they entered on their own against the People's Alliance, formed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the MHP. The İP received around 7.45% of the votes nationwide and finished third, far behind the MHP, its ideological rival. While the MHP won in 156 municipalities with a 7.31% share of votes, İP only managed to win 25 local municipalities. Ümit Özdağ, one of İP's founding members, resigned shortly after the party's failure in the local elections. The party is an offshoot of the nationalist MHP. It was formed when a group of MHP members split from the party due to Bahçeli's decision to cooperate with the AK Party.
Having failed to dislodge Bahçeli in a heated judicial process, MHP dissidents, under the leadership of Meral Akşener, first created a splinter movement within the party. The dissidents then left the party in 2016 and established the İP in October 2017.
Another point is that before March 31, there had been some transference to the İP from the CHP due to internal conflicts that the main opposition party was suffering from. Now that the election period is over, those shifted votes seem to be going back to the CHP as well, causing İP to lose power.
The party is also concerned that a possible new right-of-center party might emerge that could cause the party to lose even more strength as some of its supporters may shift their position in favor of this new party.