Not too long ago, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the rest of Türkiye’s opposition parties were taking jabs at the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), boldly pledging to combat corruption and bribery to promote transparency.
For example, the CHP made the following promises ahead of recent elections: to save towns from corruption and pillaging, to hold accountable those officials involved in fraud and favoritism, to prevent mayors and other local elected officials from getting tangled up in conflicts of interest, to get in the way of local governments receiving donations from private and legal persons with (in)direct vested interests, to introduce heavier penalties for bribery and corruption, and to abolish the statute of limitations pertaining to such crimes.
All of the above were actually included in the CHP’s official election statements. Indeed, most of the above pledges were made repeatedly by the CHP and other opposition parties, which promised to dismiss and hand over to the authorities any person engaging in such activities voluntarily.
To be clear, those campaign pledges were not limited to political parties. Pro-opposition journalists, legal professionals and political commentators, too, endorsed them in the name of “clean politics.” Ahead of popular elections, they highlighted those pledges to put pressure on the governing movement.
Ironically, the CHP and its supporters have been portraying the corruption probe into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality as “politically motivated.” Likewise, the pro-opposition media proved willing to keep silent, attempting to downplay the corruption charges. Yet, hardly anyone dares to ask them why they refuse to keep their promises. CHP officials cannot make the case that Istanbul’s mayor was not involved in corruption, yet they cannot take steps to form a commission to investigate the allegations either. Instead, they are merely accusing the governing party of “doing the same thing” – rather than advocating that necessary measures must be taken regardless of the affiliation of the accused.
The CHP’s tenure in local government has served as a kind of simulation. The Turkish people have been able to test how the opposition would act if it ever came to power. Kindly disregard the claim that the people do not believe the corruption allegations facing the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. It is highly likely that the CHP has mistaken anti-government sentiment for an endorsement of itself. They are poised to find out, sooner rather than later, that nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, this “energy” stored on the societal level could spectacularly backfire against CHP officials who have been reducing their movement’s future into the career goals of a single individual.