The Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s new chairman Özgür Özel announced the party’s preparation for Turkey’s upcoming local elections, following a party congress over the weekend that saw Özel take the reins of Turkey’s largest opposition party. In a statement with journalists in Ankara, Özel described how the party plans to make up for its defeat in the general elections this past May, and explained how the party plans to select its candidates for the upcoming contest next spring. CHP’s new chairman emphasized that the party does not plan to penalize those members who voted against ‘change’, in which Özel took over the CHP from the party’s leader of 13 years, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Instead, Özel said, public opinion will be the basic criteria in selecting candidates. Regarding forming a new coalition with other parties, Özel said “Our doors are open, we will form an alliance that serves the interests of both sides.”
Following Özel’s election as CHP head early Sunday, the new chairman spoke with reporters in Ankara including Medyascope’s Göksel Göksu and Cansu Timur.
The question on the minds of many following Özel’s victory was how the party plans to deal with CHP mayors across Turkey who opposed Özel’s chairmanship, and who instead supported his predecessor. Emphasizing that public opinion, not loyalty to the new chairman, will be the most important factor in selecting candidates, Özel told reporters: “None of our mayors will be either rewarded or penalized [for supporting or opposing Özel’s chairmanship candidacy]. My proposal to the party assembly will be to renominate mayors who are more popular than when they were originally elected, or who can clearly be reelected according to opinion polls, regardless of their attitudes [towards Özel’s chairmanship]. I do not have the authority to make these decisions on my own. But I will recommend to our party assembly that we choose other candidates in districts where our incumbents have lost support.”
“Zeydan Karalar was part of the opposition, but this is not our criterion”
Özel mentioned Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar, who in the last days prior to the CHP party congress announced that he would support Özel over Kılıçdaroğlu: “Even if a mayor supports change, it does not matter. I can continue to do politics within the party with a change-oriented mayor, but we cannot lose the municipalities. You also asked about Zeydan Karalar. Zeydan Karalar was indeed a voice in the opposition, but this mustn’t be a criterion in whether he becomes mayor; the opinion of our citizens is the most important factor,” he said.
“We will not form coalitions against our party organization’s reocmmendations”
Özel explained his stance on a potential alliance with other political parties heading into the local elections next spring:
“We have heard complaints about some of our mayors in certain provinces. This will be taken into account. It doesn’t matter if these complaints are politically motivated; if the citizens have concerns, changes will definitely be made. It wouldn’t be right to nominate someone who has a chance of not winning. We will pay close attention to polls. Public opinion will be very important in determining candidates. Apart from this, if there is a municipality where we will definitely win, we will consult our party organization to select a candidate who meets the criteria. We will seek the opinions of the party organizations belonging to districts and provinces in order to determine a candidate and decide whether or not there should be a coalition with other parties. I care about this very much. A situation in which we join into a coalition in spite of recommendations from our party organization will be avoided unless absolutely necessary.“
“We will form alliances that benefit both sides”
Özel answered the question “Will you knock on Meral Akşener’s door?” with “No doubt”. Meral Akşener is the chairwoman of the İYİ Party, the CHP’s coalition partner in 2019’s local elections as well as 2023’s general elections. Recent statements by Akşener have indicated that her party will not rejoin the CHP in a coalition this coming year. Özel explained the basic principles of a potential alliance as follows:
“We will meet with both Meral Aşkener and with all political parties with whom we should form an alliance in the upcoming local elections based on the recommendations from our party organization. Our doors are open. We will form an alliance that benefits both sides. We will avoid actions that could benefit the Justice and Development Party (AKP) [Turkey’s ruling party].”
First Davutoğlu, then Bahçeli congratulated Özel on victory
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When asked who called and congratulated him following his election victory as CHP chairman on Sunday, Özel said, “Ahmet Davutoğlu [Gelecek Party chairman] called first. He called me as soon as I left the living room and was on my way to the guesthouse. Devlet Bahçeli [National Action Party (MHP) chairman] called on the morning of November 5th. Erkan Baş [Turkish Workers’ Party chairman] called. Everyone congratulated me on social media. Many may have called but I was unable to reach them because the phones were so busy.”
“A broad amnesty clause would suit CHP’s 100th anniversary.”
Before Saturday’s party congress, in celebration of the party’s 100th anniversary, a decision had been made by the party to pardon members of the CHP who had previously been expelled, with the exception of those charged with heinous crimes or crimes against women. Regarding this pardoning, Özel said the following:
“I think it was necessary that our party issue this kind of pardon in our 100th year. But the scope of this pardoning should be discussed by the party assembly. What items will be exempted? For example, who wants people who were expelled from the party because of disgraceful crimes or because they committed violence against women to be returned to the party? I don’t want to get too deep into this topic, but my own opinion is that a broad amnesty clause that would offend the public conscience would suit the 100th anniversary of both the CHP and the republic.”
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
