Nationalist opposition willing to consult public before naming presidential candidate

At the next meeting of the six opposition parties that make up the Nation Alliance -also known as the Table of Six-to determine the presidential candidate on Jan. 26, the Good Party plans to introduce the proposal to determine the candidate "by asking the public and the bases of the parties," BBC Turkish reported.

Good Party Chairwoman Meral Aksener will begin visiting party leaders on Thursday to discuss the agenda of the meeting. Aksener is expected to exchange views on the nomination method during these visits to clarify the nomination method at the meeting.

Although the name of the candidate has not been mentioned at the six-table so far, behind-the-scenes talks about the candidate's tendencies have been going on in the party for a long time. The CHP is insisting on the candidacy of Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, which is being contested by senior members of the Good Party who believe he could have difficulty winning.

In line with these views from within the party, BBC said Aksener will introduce the proposal to poll the candidate through public opinion polls. Which names will be included in the opinion poll and how the poll will be conducted will be determined by party leaders at their meeting, the proposal said.

"Of course, it is necessary to first agree on the method of the poll. For this purpose, a joint working group can be formed in which the parties can approach each other. Two criteria are very important in the nomination: first, the public should be polled through a public opinion poll. Second, the tendency of the authorized committees of the party and the tendencies of the party bases should be considered. These should be brought to the table," BBC quoted an unidentified source from the Good Party.