The former chairperson of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who had been ousted after his election defeat last year and replaced with Özgür Özel, announced on Thursday he would not be a candidate for the main opposition’s upcoming extraordinary congress.
“I will not be a candidate for chairperson at the extraordinary congress that our party will hold this weekend. I thank all my brothers working, insisting and gathering signatures for my candidature,” Kılıçdaroğlu wrote on social media.
His announcement comes after his allies have been mobilizing support to challenge current party chair Özel for the 21st extraordinary congress to take place on Sunday in the capital, Ankara.
Kılıçdaroğlu said that the reason for his refusal to become a candidate did not stem from his fear of negative reactions since he “has never given room for any fear, including death, on the path I have walked.”
“The reason why I am not candidate, is because I do not want our party to get stuck in intraparty rows and divert attention to other areas other than our fight,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to the CHP’s activities to protest the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and the CHP’s candidate for presidency in the 2028 elections.
Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost the 2023 presidential election to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was unseated as CHP chair in November after Özel’s victory in an intraparty vote. Özel later led the party to a historic breakthrough in the March 31 municipal elections, surpassing the CHP’s traditional 25% support threshold. His success in the local elections has given him a strong mandate, but the corruption allegations and party infighting continue challenging his leadership.
Despite this electoral success, factional disputes continue to divide the party, with Kılıçdaroğlu’s loyalists resisting Özel’s leadership while Imamoğlu’s supporters position themselves for the party’s future leadership battle. The CHP’s internal conflict has created uncertainty over its direction ahead of the next general elections, with both sides vying for control over the party’s strategic decisions.
This continuing tension within the party is partly rooted in a probe launched last month into allegations that Özel “bought” delegate votes to oust Kılıçdaroğlu in the November 2023 party congress. Investigators are examining claims from CHP delegates who say they were offered bribes, including cash, homes and municipal positions, to switch their votes.
Bolstered by protests
However, Özel is in a strong position after Imamoğlu’s arrest, driving himself forward as a new leader figure and mobilizing the masses. After over a week of nighttime street protests, the CHP mobilised thousands of people for a giant rally in Istanbul, calling for the release of Imamoğlu.
Özel, a former pharmacist who has stepped in as the party’s main public flagbearer, launched a campaign to gather signatures for a petition calling for Imamoğlu’s release and early elections.
Özel had announced that protests would be held in a different one of Türkiye’s 81 provinces every weekend and a different district of Istanbul every Wednesday.
Toward congress
The CHP, which has held 58 congresses to date, 38 of which are ordinary, will gather under the slogan “The will is the people’s.”
The party has 1,323 registered congress delegates. The delegates will hold elections for the party chair, 60 Party Assembly (PM) and 15 High Disciplinary Board (YDK) members at the congress.
To become a candidate for the CHP chairperson, at least 5% of the total number of delegate members must submit a written application to the Presidency of the Council.
The general chairperson is elected by the congress by secret ballot and by an absolute majority of the total number of members. If no result is obtained in the first two votes, the candidate who receives the most votes in the third vote is elected.
In order to become a candidate for the PM membership, which is the most authorized body after the congress, 10 delegates must sign.