Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) will help two parties formed by rebels from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to enter parliament, columnist Orhan Uğuroğlu said in Yeniçağ newspaper.
Uğuroğlu said that CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had told him that his party would seek the 10 percent parliamentary threshold to be lifted in order to support democracy, and that “every party must be represented in the assembly”.
Ali Babacan, the former deputy prime minister who quit the AKP last year, founded the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) in March.
Former AKP prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu established the Future Party in December.
DEVA and the Future Party will be included in the main opposition’s electoral Nation Alliance, Uğuroğlu said.
The electoral alliance system introduced before the national elections in 2018 allows parties that fall below the 10 percent threshold to take seats in parliament if they are part of an alliance that has more than 10 percent of the vote.
Uğuroğlu said that Babacan and Davutoğlu are well acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and they would likely attract votes from the AKP in the next election.