The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is seeking to maintain close coordination with the municipal mayors elected from CHP lists.
Continuing their analyses of the March 31 local elections and June 23 Istanbul mayoral election and considering that the policies followed in the local elections will be decisive for the following period leading to presidential and parliamentary elections, the CHP has been planning to tighten the reins on local CHP administrations.
The CHP's next agenda will be about the policies and strategies that will be implemented by the local administrations of the party. Implying that the mayors will be closely followed, the CHP has established a committee to detect whether mayors are acting in accordance with party policies and principles. It has also been reported that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is preparing to visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in the capital Ankara. İmamoğlu is expected to be in Ankara on July 12 and will visit Anıtkabir with district mayors.
Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on March 31 in local elections to choose mayors, city council members and other officials for the next five years.
In the June 23 rerun mayoral election in Istanbul, İmamoğlu received more than 54 percent of the votes, while his rival, People's Alliance candidate from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Binali Yıldırım, took 45 percent of the votes. İmamoğlu led the race in 28 out of Istanbul's 39 districts, greatly improving his performance from the 16 districts he won in the canceled elections.
The election was a do-over election from the March 31 local elections, which was ordered after electoral authorities said the polls suffered from irregularities and illegalities.
The CHP administration will organize a party camp with the participation of 252 municipal mayors July 26-27. The camp is expected to take place in the Abant district of northwestern Bolu province. Following the party camp, a workshop on local administration will be organized chaired by CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.