Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chairman Devlet Bahçeli reiterated his party's support for the People's Alliance, formed with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
"MHP's preference is the survival of the People's Alliance. We are loyal to the target of making Turkey a world leader by 2023," said Bahçeli.
The People's Alliance, between the MHP and the AK Party, was formed ahead of last year's June 24 parliamentary and presidential elections. The alliance won a majority in Parliament, while its presidential candidate, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the election with 52.6 percent of the votes.
In the March 31 local elections, the People's Alliance received almost 52 percent of votes nationwide.
In a written statement, Bahçeli said political discussions within the alliance have intensified following the March 31 local elections. "The doubts over the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections have not been overcome yet," he said. He added that only the Supreme Election Council (YSK) can have the final say on the outcome of the election.
He reiterated the MHP's stance on the Istanbul elections and said the elections should be canceled and rerun due to widespread irregularities. On March 31, millions of Turkish voters cast their ballots in the local elections to choose mayors, city council members, mukhtars (neighborhood officials) and members of elder councils. In Istanbul, the Nation Alliance and Republican People's Party (CHP) candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu was awarded the certificate of the election, with a lead of only 13,729 votes. The results were followed by lengthy discussions, objections and political parties demanded a do-over of the election due to irregularities.
Two weeks ago, the AK Party submitted an extraordinary objection to the YSK to cancel and redo the municipal election in Istanbul.
