In the 2014 presidential election, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) opted to support the candidacy of Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, who was also backed by main opposition Republican People's Party and 12 minor parties. İhsanoğlu ultimately lost the election to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Justice and Development Party. Following the 2015 parliamentary elections and the failed 15 July 2016 military coup, the MHP moved closer to President Erdoğan and the AKP, supporting the latter's push for the ultimately successful 2017 referendum to switch Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. In the aftermath of the referendum, there were speculations surrounding the MHP's choice of candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled for November 2019. While former MHP deputy Sinan Oğan declared his pre-candidacy for the presidency in 2017, party leader Devlet Bahçeli announced on 8 January 2018 that the MHP would support a potential re-election bid for Erdoğan, and that they would seek to enter formal talks with the AKP on co-operation in both presidential and parliamentary elections. On 20 February 2018, the Nationalist Movement party formally entered into the People's Alliance coalition with the AKP.