Since his loss to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey’s presidential election in May, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has faced calls to resign from his position. While such calls from within the party organization itself have mostly been muted, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, himself a member of the CHP, has recently attracted attention for calling for change in the opposition and change in leadership without publicly mentioning Kılıçdaroğlu by name. Last week, leaked images of a clandestine Zoom meeting conducted by İmamoğlu and other senior CHP figures has fed speculation that an internal power struggle is afoot. Additionally, Tanju Özcan, the CHP mayor from Ankara’s neighboring city of Bolu, recently attracted attention for a 10-day march to the Turkish capital requesting the resignation of the CHP leader.
This past weekend, the CHP held a meeting between its mayors of various Turkish cities in which Kılıçdaroğlu signalled an apparent openness to leadership change, arguing that his continued leadership over the party owed more to the lack of alternative candidates than to his own desire to remain in control. In a quote paraphrased by another CHP official, Kılıçdaroğlu reportedly said:
“I will not be a candidate [for party leadership] again. I am tired. Other capable friends in the party should come and stand as candidates. Muharrem Ince [former CHP member] was unable to gather enough signatures [to take over party leadership]. I have lowered the signature quota to only five…But if the party members continue to say that I must remain party leader, then I cannot avoid this responsibility.”
Postponing leadership change until after local election
Just two months removed from a bruising general election cycle, Turkey faces local elections in just eight months, in March 2024. The local elections will determine which parties lead Turkey’s major cities including Istanbul and Ankara. CHP candidates’ surprise wins in these two cities in 2019 delivered President Erdoğan his biggest electoral defeat to date after nearly 20 years of uncontested rule.
In last weekend’s party meeting, Eskişehir Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen suggested the party delay any leadership shake-up until after next year’s local elections: “Let’s put these debates to the side for now. Let’s first do the local elections, then have a discussion afterwards. Let’s conduct our general assembly after that.”
Following clandestine Zoom call, İmamoğlu rejects rumors that he plans to take over party
Last week’s leaked Zoom call, criticized by party leaders as “unethical, at odds with party hierarchy, and against our party traditions,” had fueled speculation that the Istanbul mayor was hoping to wrest control of the CHP from Kılıçdaroğlu. In last weekend’s party meeting İmamoğlu appeared to deny such rumors, saying: “I’m not after a change in office or promotion.”
İmamoğlu also reportedly warned of the CHP’s weak position heading into next year’s local elections, saying “In the present situation we are not in a position to win an election. There must be takeaways from this. The results of the general elections will also reflect on the local elections.”
İmamoğlu himself will be up for election in İstanbul next spring.
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Party vote showcases balance between Kılıçdaroğlu, İmamoğlu supporting factions
At this past weekend’s party meeting, a vote was held by the CHP party congress over whether to return several removed municipal officials to their posts in Muş, Ağrı, Mardin, and Kayseri provinces. The vote showcased an almost even balance between İmamoğlu and Kılıçdaroğlu-supporting party factions. The motion to return these officials to their posts, supported by İmamoğlu, received approximately half of the votes of the 60 party congress members. Kılıçdaroğlu’s side, which supported the original removal of these officials, also received approximately 30 votes. The motion failed to reach the required 2/3 majority in order to pass, but nevertheless showed the balance of support enjoyed within the party by the İstanbul mayor and the CHP boss.
Written for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
