Muharrem İnce, a dissident figure of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and presidential candidate in the June 24 elections, on Thursday slammed the party administration's decision to initiate disciplinary proceedings against two dissidents who gave their signatures for an extraordinary convention, while reiterating his call for a convention.
"You cannot speak of democracy within the party by rewarding those who curse your former designated presidential candidate while referring those who demanded a convention to the disciplinary board," İnce, the dissident's apparent front-runner for the chairmanship, posted on his official Twitter account.
"Convene the extraordinary convention rather than calling for the parliament's convention. Refer me to the disciplinary board instead of my friends, if you dare," İnce added.
The CHP head of Serik district, in the southern Antalya province, and the provincial head of northern Samsun province organization were referred to the party disciplinary board with demands of their expulsion from the party, fueling debates between the party administration and the dissidents.
The chairman of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu reportedly gave a green light to start the purge of the dissidents within the party amid intraparty debates in a bid to hush dissenting voices calling for bylaw convention.
The party was shaken by intraparty discussions since the June 24 elections' failure of the party. On Aug. 6 the party administration announced that the dissidents who started a petition to convene an extraordinary convention calling for a change in the administration failed to reach a quorum for an extraordinary convention. The dissidents announced that if the administration refuses to convene the convention they will resort to bylaw convention. Meanwhile, in a press conference held on Thursday, Kılıçdaroğlu stated that the convention debates have ended when the administration announced the number of qualified signatures for the extraordinary convention in the headquarters. He highlighted that the signatures could be inspected by the media and the dissidents.
"I do not approve of initiating the bylaw convention process in the wake of the upcoming March 2019 local elections," Kılıçdaroğlu said, emphasizing that maintaining debates will only harm the party and undermine the preparations for upcoming elections.
