Muharrem Ince, the chairperson of the Homeland Party (MP) and presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, on Wednesday announced his condition to support the opposition’s candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Speaking on Sözcü TV, Ince said, “If Babacan and Davutoğlu leave the alliance, I will extend my support. I do not want any vice presidency position. I do not want anything in return.”
He continued to say that after removing the head of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) Ali Babacan as well as Future Party (GP) Chairperson Ahmet Davutoğlu, it would be more useful to have only three vice presidents, which would be Good Party (IP) Chairperson Meral Akşener, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş.
Ince accused Babacan and Davutoğlu, who were part of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) before, of having pursued wrong policies.
Ince started his political career in the CHP and was elected as the party’s lawmaker from the Yalova constituency during the 2002 elections. He twice challenged the leadership of Kılıçdaroğlu, in 2014 and 2018, but failed to garner enough votes to defeat him in the CHP’s intraparty polls. Yet, Kılıçdaroğlu, whose party repeatedly lost all elections against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) over two decades, nominated him as a contender against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2018 presidential elections. Erdoğan secured a landslide victory in the polls, while Ince is credited with boosting the CHP’s vote for the first time in decades in such an election to over 30%. After the postelection fallout with the CHP, Ince established his party in 2021.
The opposition is accusing him of splitting votes against Erdoğan by becoming a presidential candidate and not supporting Kılıçdaroğlu.
