The CHP Central Board of Directors and the Party Assembly will convene this week following the opposition’s stinging defeat in this month’s elections. The potential resignations and appointments are expected to come to light after the Board of directors meet tomorrow (June 1st) and the Party Assembly the following Saturday (June 3rd).
CHP Chair and former presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu met with party higher ups this week amidst calls for Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu’s resignations. Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu has been met with broad criticism in light of his defeat, especially since many voters have been opposed to his candidacy from the start, favoring Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu or Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş in his place. Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu is widely seen as forcing his candidacy on the party and his coalition instead of backing candidates who were seen as more electable. As the opposition suffered a heavy defeat in the polls this month, losing both the Presidency and the parliament, Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu’s future in the party is uncertain. Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to announce his decision on whether or not he will resign after the bodies assemble.
Özgür Özel may be the only likely candidate
MP’s for the 28th term of the Grand National Assembly will be sworn in this Saturday. The CHP is expected to hold a closed door group meeting the same day to elect Party group president and group vice presidents. Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu is ineligible for the position as he is not a minister of parliament. The most likely candidate for the leader position is Özgür Özel, who has expressed interest in taking up the mantle and replacing Engin Özkoç, who did not seek reelection this cycle.
Additionally CHP is due to assemble its congress as it had been postponing it since last year citing pandemic concerns and the possibility of an early election. The congress, if held this year, could be in the fall which could produce a successor to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. As the opposition still has the local races to look forward to as a glimmer of hope of gaining some control in the political sphere, two possibilities exist: To get the congress over with as soon as possible and run in the local elections with a clean slate strategy, or to wait until after the elections as to avoid the optics of “failure”.
İYİ Party executive board assembles
Opposition partner İYİ Party’s executive board also met yesterday to discuss the opposition’s less than stellar performance in elections. Party Chair Meral Akşener stated that while they retained their MP seats in this election, the message from the electorate was clear. Party spokesperson and İzmir MP Kürşad Zorlu refrained from holding a press conference following the assembly but is expected to make a statement to the press in the near future.
It is unclear at this point who the party’s group president will be. Much like it’s coalition partner CHP, last term President İsmail Tatlıoğlu did not seek reelection, however his deputies Müsavat Dervişoğlu and Erhan Usta have secured their seats for another term; among the pair Dervişoğlu appears to be the most likely candidate.
Can Akşener be Deposed?
As Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu takes the brunt of the flak for this year’s losses, this is a precarious time for all party bosses. İYİ Party had held i’s local congresses earlier this year and is expected to hold its general congress in July, where sweeping changes to its leadership, Board of Directors and Disciplinary Board could be on the docket. While Akşener had stated that she would run for the party chair position again, after the disappointment suffered by the party in the elections, her candidacy could be in question; particularly after İYİ Party Dİsciplinary Board President Ethem Baykal openly called for Akşener’s resignation on Twitter this past Sunday.
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There have been rumors swirling that a faction inside the party will run a joint candidate against veteran politician and party founder Akşener, however sources speaking to Medyascope predict that this would be an unlikely outcome.
