It has been barely eight months since he took the helm of the Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), but Özgür Özel faces calls for a new election in the party.
Özel sought to stifle dissent after he won against long-serving Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in November 2023 and made his first major move against his dissidents on April 20, days after a municipal election in which the CHP claimed victory in former strongholds of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). He instructed provincial chairs of Türkiye’s oldest party to share the names of any party member who “undermined” the election process and sought to refer them to the party’s disciplinary board.
Several party members voiced opposition to Özel’s choice of candidates for certain municipalities and openly expressed displeasure with the candidate-picking process. Provincial chairs gave the names of 1,819 people who allegedly sought to sabotage the CHP’s election campaign and eventually, the party’s administration launched disciplinary action for 394 among them. The majority of those are supporters of Kılıçdaroğlu. Although he kept a low profile for a while after the November election, Kılıçdaroğlu has been active on social media and set up a new office in the capital Ankara, raising speculation that he might seek to retake the seat he lost to Özel. Kılıçdaroğlu nowadays receives a steady flow of visitors, mostly dissidents within the party. Reports say party members opposing Özel are exerting pressure on Kılıçdaroğlu to mobilize others for a call to a new election in September. The party will convene that month to vote on a new charter.
Kılıçdaroğlu is rumored to have visited several provinces, reportedly to drum up support. He already has 450 delegates siding with him in the party. Under the party’s rules, 274 delegates are required to fulfill a petition for an election call. Most party members who face expulsion under the Özel administration have already started collecting signatures and regularly update Kılıçdaroğlu on the developments.
Kılıçdaroğlu served for 13 years as CHP chair, a lengthy tenure compared to his predecessors. Yet, the CHP failed to secure absolute victory in any elections under his rule. He decided to run against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 general elections and managed to carry the vote to a second round with the support of a united opposition. However, he lost Erdoğan in the runoff, a defeat triggering the election process in the CHP.
Özel, who pushed for change at the party with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu’s help, has led his party to victory in the March 31 local elections, breaking the CHP’s historic ceiling of 25% support nationwide and marking its first first-place success in 47 years.
