Does new party stand a chance against Erdoğan?
Former Turkish minister Meral Akşener has founded a new party named İyi Parti (Good Party). The well-known nationalist opposition figure was excluded from the far-right MHP last year after a bid to oust its leader. Turkish commentators disagree as to whether she will be able to stand up to Erdoğan's AKP.
Akşener has potential in the centre
T24 describes the challenges facing Akşener and her party:
“Turkey has been polarised by the AKP, and at present there are two currents in the country: those who aren't against the AKP but are against Tayyip Erdoğan, and the others. These others - aside from the MHP - must join forces. The second, critical point is to attract those who are attached to Erdoğan. That can't be done by criticising him non-stop. Alternatives must be found and made attractive for AKP voters. That's the difficult task. It will be made easier by the fact that 30 percent of voters are undecided - a high proportion. Those are the people whom Akşener can convince.”
Better the original than a poor copy
For the pro-government daily Sabah the İyi Parti is just a poor imitation of Erdoğan's policies:
“We've had a look at the good programme of the Good Party. There's nothing remarkable about it. Ms Meral is a good nationalist. The fight against the separatists and in particular the PKK will continue. Will she do anything different to Tayyip Erdoğan? ... The party has set itself the goal of turning 'the Republic of Turkey as an independent, sovereign, venerable and respected member of the international community into an effective regional power and leading nation in order to contribute to peace in the region and the world'. Did you copy Tayyip Erdoğan's ideas one-to-one and make a few minor changes to avoid angering the people?”