Ali Babacan recounts the day Akşener walked out of the Six-Party Table! 'I objected...'

DEVA Party Chair Ali Babacan was a guest on the Eşit Ağırlık Özel program on Tv100.

Responding to questions from Erdoğan Aktaş, Gürkan Hacır, and Kübra Par, Babacan spoke for the first time about the events that took place during the candidate selection process at the Six-Party Table before the presidential elections.

Sharing the details of the process that led to İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener leaving the table, Babacan stated, "At the first meeting on Thursday, I said, 'Our priority is for the candidate to emerge from this table.' After Meral Hanım left, a proposal was made to issue a declaration with 5 signatures, and I objected. Meral Hanım asked for time, we said, 'We will meet again on Monday,' and on Friday, Akşener made her statement regarding the table. When we sat down on Monday, I was the last one to sign; I left the meeting twice."

Highlights from Babacan's statements:

"ISTANBUL AND ANKARA CANDIDATES NOT YET FINALIZED"

We are working intensively on our candidates for the Istanbul and Ankara Metropolitan Municipalities. We are evaluating names both from within our party and from outside. According to the Supreme Election Council (YSK) calendar, there is time until February 20, but we do not intend to wait that long. We are working on the names. We introduced 51 of our candidates last week.

"THERE IS ALLIANCE FATIGUE AMONG POLITICAL PARTIES"

There has been alliance fatigue among political parties since May. The search for cooperation in other parties is also low. We formed an alliance in May, and we think we did the right thing there. As we head into these local elections, there is no 50+1 requirement. The need for cooperation is less than in the general election. We established 18 commissions and divided them among 81 provinces. We are working intensively.

EMPHASIS ON RUNNING IN ALL 81 PROVINCES

So far, we have not had any meetings regarding cooperation with any party. It is not that the door is closed, but if a proposal comes from a local level, such as at the district level, it could happen. Exceptions do not break the rule; our rule is to run in the elections in all 81 provinces.

WHAT IS DEVA PARTY'S GOAL IN THE LOCAL ELECTIONS?

We announced our candidates at a very early stage. It will take some time for our candidates to convince the citizens within the 4-month period. We will obtain the highest possible number of mayoralties and council memberships.

"THERE WILL BE PLACES WE WIN AND PLACES WE DO NOT"

Our goal is to win the election everywhere. There will be places we win and places we do not. In places where we do not win the election, who will our presence there help win, and who will it cause to lose? That is a very separate calculation.

HOW DOES HE FIND THE IMAMOĞLU AND YAVAŞ ADMINISTRATION?

İmamoğlu and Yavaş were colleagues we worked with at the Six-Party Table. I think it would not be appropriate for our past working relationship to say anything very detailed about their performance. Our candidates will manage much better.

"WE STOOD IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME IN HISTORY"

We see the Six-Party Table as an important initiative for breaking down the walls between neighborhoods and for people with very different political views to meet for the country's future. We stood in the right place at the right time in history. We have no regrets because we aimed for a parliamentary system.

WHY DID THE OPPOSITION LOSE THE ELECTION?

We were able to give 48 percent of the voters the confidence that six parties could govern this country together in harmony without fighting or noise. Akşener's walking out of the table likely had an effect on this.

WHAT WAS DISCUSSED AT THE SIX-PARTY TABLE THAT DAY?

At the first meeting on Thursday, we had not expressed that we supported Kılıçdaroğlu; my statement was, 'Our priority is for the candidate to emerge from this table.' Some chairs other than me expressed a positive approach regarding Mr. Kemal. After Meral Hanım left, a proposal was made to issue a declaration with 5 signatures, and I objected. I said everything from this table came out with 6 signatures, it cannot be done with 5. Meral Hanım asked for time, we said, 'We will meet again on Monday,' and on Friday, Akşener made her statement regarding the table. Things evolved over Saturday and Sunday. When we sat down on Monday, I was the last one to sign; I left the meeting twice. All of these are in the past. We need to say new things.

The 48-52 percent is a very close ratio. We saw it as a knife-edge situation until the final weeks. In the last few weeks, the result changed in Erdoğan's favor.

WAS HE AWARE OF THE PROTOCOL KILIÇDAROĞLU MADE WITH ÖZDAĞ?

There were 2 protocols; we were aware of the first protocol and he informed us. We were not aware of the second and secret protocol, and I was saddened when I learned about it. I am not sure if it would have been implemented when the time came because there is an open protocol on one side that says 'Decisions are taken by the decision of 6 people.' If we had won the election, we would have brought the issue of Ümit Özdağ becoming Minister of Interior to the table and discussed it. Kılıçdaroğlu got our approval before meeting with Özdağ, and we said okay. We were not aware of some of the meetings.

"WE HAD NOT DISCUSSED THE NAMES OF THE MINISTRIES"

The number of ministers was to be given in proportion to the number of deputies. We announced this transparently. We had not discussed the names of the ministries.

"THE JOINT LIST WAS A PROPOSAL PERSISTENTLY BROUGHT TO US BY CHP"

CHP persistently brought us the proposal to enter the election with a joint list. We were going to submit the list on Sunday evening, and the proposal came to us the week before that. They said, "We will lose the majority in Parliament." They showed us calculations. When entering the election jointly, +18 deputies were emerging. When DEVA, Gelecek, and Saadet entered the election jointly, +32 deputies were emerging. We did this at their insistence. While we had agreed on 20 candidates, they wanted to make our Siirt and Iğdır Provincial Chairs the top of the list with the proposal from CHP. We said okay, we accepted. In some provinces, we nominated our party members so that the CHP member at the top would be elected. These provinces are Elazığ, Erzurum, and Yozgat. When the CHP candidate in Kilis resigned, our Kilis Provincial Chair was written on the list.

"IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE 4 PARTIES, CHP WOULD HAVE RECEIVED FEWER VOTES"

If it weren't for DEVA, Gelecek, Saadet, and the Democrat Party, CHP would have been lower. We cannot know what CHP's vote was at the moment of May 14, so whatever we say is empty, but there is an increase in CHP's votes everywhere our candidates are present.

"THERE IS AN INCREASE IN CHP'S VOTES EVERYWHERE OUR CANDIDATES ARE PRESENT"

There is an increase in CHP's votes everywhere our candidates are present. Sadullah Ergin was discussed a lot. CHP's increase in vote share in Çankaya is 7 percent. The vote increase in the first district is 5.5 percent. The claim was that it would lose votes, but it did not fall, it increased.

WHY DID HE SAY 'NO' TO SAADET AND GELECEK PARTY FORMING A JOINT GROUP?

They formed this group under the umbrella of the Saadet Party. We did not find it appropriate, and especially because of the alliance fatigue that occurred after the 6-party table, we said let us show our own stance and we did not take part there.

News Source: 12punto