1997 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress

The 1997 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress referred to two party conventions held by the Nationalist Movement Party (Turkish: Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - MHP), a far-right ultranationalist political party in Turkey, following the death of their first leader Alparslan Türkeş. The first congress was held on 18 May 1997, where six candidates ran for the party leadership. Türkeş's eldest son, Tuğrul Türkeş emerged with a plurality of the vote while Devlet Bahçeli came second. The remaining candidates subsequently withdrew in support for Bahçeli, resulting in violence breaking out between party members supporting rival candidates. The second round was subsequently delayed until 6 July.

Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress, 1997

18 May and 6 July 1997
 
Candidate Devlet Bahçeli Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş
Party MHP MHP
Constituency Osmaniye Istanbul
Delegate vote 359 (4th congress)
697 (5th congress)
412 (4th congress)
483 (5th congress)
Percentage 29.9% (4th congress)
59.1 (5th congress)
34.4 (4th congress)
40.9% (5th congress)

Leader before election

Alparslan Türkeş
MHP

Elected Leader

Devlet Bahçeli
MHP

In their campaign speeches, Türkeş attacked Bahçeli for allegedly disrespecting the legacy of his father, whereas Bahçeli claimed that Türkeş's supporters did not have a place in the party.[1] Devlet Bahçeli was elected in the second round with 697 delegates' votes as opposed to Türkeş's 483, prompting Türkeş to resign from the party and establish the Bright Turkey Party (ATP) in 1998. The ATP was dissolved in 2010 after Türkeş rejoined the MHP in 2007 and became a Member of Parliament for Istanbul in the 2007 general election.

Results

4th extraordinary congress, 18 May 1997

Candidate Votes Percentage
Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş41234.4
Devlet Bahçeli35929.9
Ramiz Ongun23119.3
Enis Öksüz1048.7
Muharrem Şemsek806.7
İbrahim Çiftçi131.1
Total
1,199100.0

5th extraordinary congress, 6 July 1997

Candidate Votes Percentage
Devlet Bahçeli69759.1
Yıldırım Tuğrul Türkeş48340.9
Total
1,180100.0

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.