Turkish party re-elects chief

ANKARA: Turkey’s nationalist Good Party re-elected Meral Aksener as its chief on Sunday, even though she had vowed to step down following her heavy defeat in the presidential election in June.

Aksener had said last month she would step down after coming only fourth in the June 24 election, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a resounding victory and saw his powers increased substantially. But senior figures in her party insisted on putting Aksener’s name forward again as leader at the party congress in Ankara.