Following the final decision for the Court of Cassation declaring that the congress should go ahead, the MHP national executive declared that the congress would be held on 26 June or 10 July, with Bahçeli standing as a candidate.
However, the inner-party opposition declared that the MHP constitution at the time did not allow a leadership election to be held apart from during the routine ordinary congresses every three years, leading to speculation that the MHP executive were planning to hold the congress and then nullifying the result through court order.
The inner-party opposition also argued that the date of the congress would be determined by the judicially appointed invitation committee, not the executive, while the executive argued that such a congress would be unconstitutional since it wasn't held in central Ankara and would require members of the ruling executive to officially be declared valid.

The first Congress of 2016 was held on 19 June 2016 as announced by the invitation committee at the Anatolia Hotel Esenboğa Auditorium in Ankara, starting at 10am.
Then incumbent party executives and 38 out of 40 MHP PMs boycotted the Congress, Devlet Bahçeli did not attend the event.
The opposition declared 752 delegates attended the congress, but Bahçeli's team announced the attendance is much lower, and the Congress did not meet the delegate threshold.
The notary officially announced the attendance as 662, making the Congress valid.
After the Congress, the opposition successfully changes 13 out of 14 articles of party constitution, allowing party leader elections during extraordinary congress and preventing party bans after June 5, 2016.
The second Congress is planned for 10 July 2016, the same date as Bahçeli's announcement.
Three days after the Congress, MHP parliamentary group leader Oktay Vural resigned.

The congress was heavily criticised by one of the leadership candidates, Süleyman Servet Sazak, for revolving almost entirely around the frontrunner Meral Akşener, with the other candidates not having any input in the proposed constitutional changes.
Following the final decision for the Court of Cassation declaring that the congress should go ahead, the MHP national executive declared that the congress would be held on 26 June or 10 July, with Bahçeli standing as a candidate. However, the inner-party opposition declared that the MHP constitution at the time did not allow a leadership election to be held apart from during the routine ordinary congresses every three years, leading to speculation that the MHP executive were planning to hold the congress and then nullifying the result through court order. The inner-party opposition also argued that the date of the congress would be determined by the judicially appointed invitation committee, not the executive, while the executive argued that such a congress would be unconstitutional since it wasn't held in central Ankara and would require members of the ruling executive to officially be declared valid.
The first Congress of 2016 was held on 19 June 2016 as announced by the invitation committee at the Anatolia Hotel Esenboğa Auditorium in Ankara, starting at 10am. Then incumbent party executives and 38 out of 40 MHP PMs boycotted the Congress, Devlet Bahçeli did not attend the event. The opposition declared 752 delegates attended the congress, but Bahçeli's team announced the attendance is much lower, and the Congress did not meet the delegate threshold. The notary officially announced the attendance as 662, making the Congress valid. After the Congress, the opposition successfully changes 13 out of 14 articles of party constitution, allowing party leader elections during extraordinary congress and preventing party bans after June 5, 2016. The second Congress is planned for 10 July 2016, the same date as Bahçeli's announcement. Three days after the Congress, MHP parliamentary group leader Oktay Vural resigned.
The congress was heavily criticised by one of the leadership candidates, Süleyman Servet Sazak, for revolving almost entirely around the frontrunner Meral Akşener, with the other candidates not having any input in the proposed constitutional changes.
2016 Nationalist Movement Party Extraordinary Congress