Following the November 2015 general election, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli had faced several calls for his resignation after his poor election results. The dissidents, consisting predominantly of Meral Akşener Ümit Özdağ, Yusuf Halaçoğlu and Koray Aydın, began collecting delegate signatures to change the MHP constitution and allow for leadership challenges. A constitutional congress was held by the dissidents on 19 June 2016, with the changes being approved by delegates, although the congress was not recognised by the MHP executive and was eventually annulled by the courts. The dissidents were later suspended from the MHP by the party disciplinary committee. The MHP lost further support following Bahçeli's declaration of support for a 'yes' vote in the 2017 constitutional referendum, with the dissidents openly campaigning for a 'No' vote and arguably carrying most of the Turkish nationalist vote with them.