The New Welfare Party (YRP) did not ask for a ministry or deputy presidency in the upcoming government but aims for a strong presence in the Parliament, YRP Chairperson Fatih Erbakan said on Tuesday.
After meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital Ankara, Erbakan told reporters, “We did not have a request for participation in government formation or a ministry or vice presidency. We have a plan, a roadmap, in the form of being in the Parliament strongly with our parliamentary group and deputies to follow the implementation of actions we have agreed with for the benefit of this nation.”
Erbakan further highlighted that his party would declare its deputy lists for the parliamentary elections instead of nominating them under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) list.
“For now, we will go to polls in all constituencies with our logo and emblem. It does not seem likely at the moment that we will have any deputy from AK Party lists,” Erbakan added, saying that discussions on the issue could be held with the AK Party.
“We took a national and decisive step in order not to surrender our country and our people to six-party chaos. We took a national and determined action by joining the People’s Alliance,” he underlined.
YRP last week agreed to endorse the AK Party-led People’s Alliance. Thus, the alliance grew to four parties: The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Great Unity Party (BBP), besides the AK Party and the YRP.
Fatih Erbakan is the son of late Prime Minister Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, whose now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) dominated Turkish politics in the 1990s before falling victim to the Feb. 28 coup that targeted conservative voters the RP garnered support from. Erbakan’s political movement changed names over the years amid political bans and spawned several parties, including the AK Party, whose founders were closest to Erbakan; while the Saadet Party (Felicity Party), currently aligned with the opposition bloc’s “Table for Six,” also claims Erbakan's legacy.
Türkiye’s parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled to be held on May 14. The polls are considered highly critical in the backdrop of the two-decade reign of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which has seen economic booms and giant development projects as well as a failed coup. At the same time, a six-party opposition coalition contests him.
