2016 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress

Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress, 2016

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Registered	1,211 delegates[2]
Candidate Devlet Bahçeli Meral Akşener Sinan Oğan Party MHP MHP MHP   Candidate Ümit Özdağ Koray Aydın Süleyman Servet Sazak Party MHP MHP MHP   Candidate Selim Kaptanoğlu Party MHP
Leader before election Devlet Bahçeli MHP Elected Leader None elected

The 2016 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congresses referred to two party conventions of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the first of which was held on 19 June 2016, in order to vote on proposed changes to the MHP party constitution and elect a new leader. The congress was initially intended to be held on 15 May 2016 after enough delegates submitted the required signatures, however it was delayed after judiciary conflicts between different courts. After the final decision by Court of Cassation allowing the congress to go ahead, the party executive announced that an extraordinary congress with a leadership election would be held on 10 July while the invitation committee formed by the court declared that the constitutional extraordinary congress would occur on 19 June 2016.^[1] Although the MHP executive declared the congress to be against the MHP constitution and legally flawed, the first Congress was held as planned by the inner-party opposition, with a unanimous vote to change the constitution being achieved. The second congress was delayed after judiciary intervention requested by MHP officials, along with a formal request from the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK).^[3] The congress was eventually not held, prompting the dissidents to resign and join forces under a new party, namely the Good Party.

The congress was called for by several inner-party critics of the MHP's current leader Devlet Bahçeli, who had led the party to a heavy defeat in the November 2015 general election. However, since the party constitution did not allow leadership elections at any congress other than the routine ordinary congresses (the next due to take place in 2018), a 'constitutional congress' was required before a leadership vote to amend the constitution and allow an earlier vote to take place. It was therefore expected that the congress due to be held on 15 May would be the first of two MHP party congresses held in the year 2016, the latter featuring a leadership election should constitutional amendments be successful.