Founding a party is not like making pickles

This quote by Dr. Hikmet Kıvılcımlı should be written in capital letters and hung everywhere.

Even as years pass and names, signs, and rhetoric change, the historical meaning and truth of this statement remain the same...

Parties are founded. They are either stillborn or appear for a while before locking their doors. They turn into "signboard parties" or become 'proxy parties'.

The İYİ Party, founded periodically, also appears close to completing its mission. The remaining structure is fragmented. In the coming period, the struggle between internal cliques seems set to continue. Defections will also persist. Ultimately, it is likely to turn into a party of alliances or bargaining...

The İYİ Party entered the political scene in 2017. During the MHP congress process, there were 4 prominent general chair candidates. The names opposing Bahçeli: Meral Akşener, Ümit Özdağ, Koray Aydın, and Sinan Oğan.

After being expelled, Akşener, Özdağ, and Aydın founded the İYİ Party. If you ask me, the party's choice of name was very unsuccessful. Sinan Oğan remained independent. He did not join the İYİ Party. The rest is history...

Nationalists who are secular, urban, and not warm to an alliance with the AKP, as well as people close to the center-right, began to support the İYİ Party.

To prevent any negative outcomes regarding the eligibility to enter elections, a parliamentary group was formed through the temporary transfer of deputies from the CHP. It entered the 2018 elections under the umbrella of the Nation Alliance. It received 9.9 percent of the vote. Akşener collected 100 thousand signatures for her presidential candidacy in a short time. She received 7.2 percent of the vote. The expectation was higher...

The İYİ Party also entered the 2019 local elections by forming an alliance with the CHP. It did not get the result it expected. It could not win any metropolitan or provincial municipalities; it obtained a small number of district and town municipalities and council memberships.

Restlessness in the party never ended.

Resignations did not cease. Many names who founded the party, deputies, and provincial and district chairs resigned over time.

Although it seemed to try to walk along an ideological and political line at the start, it turned into a leader's party over time. It became Akşener's party. With the departure of Ümit Özdağ and his founding of the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi), it gradually lost blood.

Allegations and criticisms directed at Buğra Kavuncu, who was described as Akşener's 'prince', and the serious allegations raised regarding financial matters, especially those during candidacy processes, gradually diminished trust.

Akşener's withdrawal from the table during the Table of Six process against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's presidential candidacy, her rhetoric, and her subsequent return also caused trust to be severely eroded. Although it seems today that Akşener's objection to Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy was not unfounded, when evaluated within the equation of politics itself, style and timing can sometimes take precedence over intent.

After this process, the downward trend continued. The "free and independent" move was perceived less as pointing to a new line and more as an expression of anger and resentment during the presidential candidate determination process, and a move aimed at revenge in the style of "I will show you, you will see." The matter had become personalized in the eyes of the voter. And unfortunately, "perception had turned into reality."

And the result is clear...

First of all, those who wanted to get rid of the economic and social crisis and the AKP voted for the party and candidate they saw as the strongest at the ballot box. The CHP was the first and strongest address in this sense, and the voters turned to it.

Meral Akşener, who thought the nationalist, center-right mass would meet in her own party, was wrong. An approach in the style of "If I can't win, I'll make others lose" also lost!

This election was an indicator that the İYİ Party is not the address of the 'Third Way' that has always been talked about.

What Next?

Müsavat Dervişoğlu won at the İYİ Party congress. Dervişoğlu is a name for whom Akşener called deputies, provincial and district chairs to ask for support. He is of MHP origin and a long-time politician in İzmir. The other general chair candidate, Mehmet Tolga Akalın, also supported Dervişoğlu.

It is said that "one does not retire from politics." I agree. Meral Akşener is not a name who will sit in a corner and grow tomatoes and peppers in the garden. She will wait. When she thinks the time has come, she will return to the field actively. She will say that history and the base are calling me. She will say that, but whether a party will remain, the process will show...

Resignations seem set to continue in the İYİ Party from now on. The party will want to settle on the center-right ground that the ANAP-True Path Party (DYP) filled in the past. However, it should not be forgotten that this tendency exists in the AKP. In fact, this tendency is also present in the party during the CHP's change process. In other words, it is a question mark whether the İYİ Party can achieve such a recovery and representation, especially with its current strength!

Its second option is to turn towards the establishment of a right-wing nationalist alliance. A new alliance for a possible early election.

Ümit Özdağ's congratulating Müsavat Dervişoğlu and his words, "if he visits, our door is open, our coffee is good," are at the same time a door opened to an alliance alongside courtesy...

There is still plenty of time, but the ground for an alliance led by the İYİ Party and the Victory Party, and in which other parties such as the BTP, Democrat Party, Justice Party, National Path Party, True Party, etc. will participate, can be formed. This alliance could also pass the threshold. But in politics, even 1 hour is a very long time.

It seems the waters will not settle in the İYİ Party.

We will all see together...