Another İYİ Party MP resigns over solo run decision

The decision of the İYİ (Good) Party to go solo in next March's local elections has resulted in yet another resignation, with Ankara MP Yüksel Arslan announcing his departure and pledging his support to the capital's incumbent mayor, Mansur Yavaş.

"Although our party has declared its will, I have endeavored to make a common-sense decision that would meet the will and expectations of our party's base in Ankara from the beginning of the process based on the current political and social reality," Arslan said in a social media post on Dec. 21.

This move follows the party's controversial decision to field its own candidates in all constituencies for the mayoral polls, deviating from the successful electoral cooperation that proved pivotal in main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) victories in key battlegrounds, including Ankara and Istanbul, in 2019.

The fallout from the party's decision to run independently has been substantial, marked by a series of resignations and dismissals among lawmakers and key figures within the party, causing its parliamentary seats to drop to 38.

Arslan revealed details of a meeting with İYİ Party leader Meral Akşener on Dec. 6, where he claimed that the chair informed him that she had not received a concrete proposal from the CHP for cooperation and that she did not have a negative attitude towards Yavaş.

The Ankara deputy revealed that Akşener told him, "I know that you are close to Mr. Mansur. I cannot tell you to work for our party's candidate in Ankara. You are free."

"However, I think that supporting another candidate in a city where my party nominates a candidate would not be compatible with politics, morality and courtesy," Arslan wrote on X. "I see supporting the Ankara Municipality...