Coalition process The MHP, having been projected to win over many disaffected voters from the governing
Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the
June 2015 general election, managed to win 80 seats in
Parliament with 16.29% of the vote. In the same election, the AKP failed to win a parliamentary majority, with many commentators expecting the MHP to join the AKP in a coalition given ideological similarities. The post-election strategy of MHP leader
Devlet Bahçeli was heavily criticised for being counterproductive and ideologically baseless, with Bahçeli rejecting almost all offers made to him by other parties. Having rejected a coalition with the AKP and declared support for an early election, he later rejected an offer by the
Republican People's Party (CHP) leader
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to head a triple-party coalition as Prime Minister. At the same time, Bahçeli was criticised for effectively 'handing over' the
June–July 2015 Parliament Speaker election to the AKP candidate by abstaining. Fresh elections were called for November 2015 after all government formation attempts failed.
November 2015 election In the
November 2015 general election, the MHP suffered a heavy defeat and halved its parliamentary representation, winning 11.9% of the vote and falling behind the pro-Kurdish
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in terms of seats to become the smallest party in Parliament with just 40 MPs. Bahçeli subsequently came under heavy fire for the poor election result, with prominent party members such as
Meral Akşener and
Sinan Oğan openly declaring their candidacy to succeed Bahçeli. Bahçeli subsequently ruled out any prospect of a resignation and declared that the next leadership election would be held as expected in 2018, three years after the previous
Ordinary Congress in March 2015. His decision was unable to quell further unrest within the party, with several provincial and district party associations declaring their support for opposing candidates. the party leadership clamped down on dissident party associations by abolishing them and setting up new ones in their place headed by more loyal party members. In the meantime,
Ümit Özdağ and
Koray Aydın declared their candidacies.
Signatures for an Extraordinary Congress Under the leadership of opposing candidates, delegates critical Bahçeli began collecting signatures to force an Extraordinary Congress. On 15 January 2016, Akşener announced that she had successfully collected over 400 signatures, enough to call a congress. The party leadership staunchly rejected demands for an Extraordinary Congress, resulting in party opposition leaders submitting the signature lists to court. On 19 April, the courts accepted the opposition's call for an Extraordinary Congress. the MHP leadership respected the legal outcome, but stated that they would appeal and not recognise the decision. Following a legal appeal, the courts decided to delay the congress indefinitely while they reviewed the case on 29 April. On 6 May, the courts rejected the MHP leadership's appeal and declared that the congress should go ahead on 15 May.
Legal challenges On 13 May, two days before the proposed congress, the appeals from the opposition were accepted by an Ankara court. However at the same time, a court in the
Sivas town of
Gemerek ruled that the congress would be illegal following a legal challenge by the town's pro-Bahçeli party association. In response to the apparent confusion,
Meral Akşener filed a complaint against Gemerek Judge İlhan Işık to the
Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), accusing the judge of ruling on a case that was beyond the remit of a district court. Although the party opposition declared their intention to hold the congress on Sunday since all legal challenges had been lifted, lawyers at the party's headquarters declared that it would not be legally possible and that the police should stop any attempts by the opposition to do so. Later on the same day, the Ankara court upheld the Germenek court ruling, again putting the congress on hold. One of the leadership candidates,
Ümit Özdağ, claimed that the attempts to stop the congress had been initiated by the
Minister of Justice. == First Congress ==