Senior intra-party opposition figures within the Republican People's Party (CHP) have reportedly changed their strategy in battling party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu after failing to gather enough signatures to hold an extraordinary congress, according to sources from CHP headquarters. The CHP sources said that the main aim of the intra-party opposition was to weaken the CHP leader during the party assembly. Reportedly, opposition delegates will not vote for names that are close to Kılıçdaroğlu in the upcoming general congress, which will be held on Jan. 16 and Jan. 17, with efforts likely to be made to leave these names out of the party assembly to weaken Kılıçdaroğlu.
Meanwhile, the CHP's Yalova deputy Muharrem İnce recently criticized Kılıçdaroğlu during his press conference on Nov.. 9 over the party chairman's unsuccessful leadership and claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu has "lost credibility." The CHP is expected to hold a party congress in January. In order to be elected as party leader, a candidate must win an absolute majority with 1,218 delegate votes. Asserting that Kılıçdaroğlu is far from being the logical choice, İnce said the CHP chairman does not know how to "practice perception management, nor does he conduct public opinion polls." Echoing his previous sentiments, he claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu likes the right-wing while keeping his distance from leftists. "He is far from assertive and is always ready to be the runner up," İnce added.
Additionally, the attitude of former CHP Chairman Deniz Baykal and his group members has also been discussed by opposition figures, who reported that party delegates who have close relations with Baykal did not support an extraordinary congress. Some opposition figures within the CHP argued that Baykal does not support any action without being part of a leading position, while others claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu will give seats to these delegates in the party council.
