 Bal had left the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) in November 2013 after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fell out with Gülen following the 2013-14 anti-government protests.Bal highlighted that the party would tackle the democratic deficit within Turkish politics, claiming that the lack of democracy and the politicisation of the judiciary by the AKP were the two largest problems facing the country.Although he claimed that he hadn't met Gülen before forming the party, he said that he would be open to his, as well as everyone else's involvement in the party.