The Republican People's Party’s (CHP) 20th extraordinary convention was launched on Friday in the capital Ankara to work on a critical charter.
The symbolic opening of the convention took place on Sept. 4, to commemorate the 105th anniversary of the Sivas Congress – a historic event where the founders of the Republic of Türkiye planned the country's fight for independence and its future.
Delegates, deputies, deputy general chairs, party assembly and central executive board members, former CHP General Chairpersons Hikmet Çetin and Altan Öymen, former Social Democratic People’s Party (SHP) General Chairperson Murat Karayalçın and mayors attended the convention that began under the title "Second Century Change Convention." Former CHP Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was invited to the convention, did not attend, though.
CHP Deputy Chair Gökan Zeybek was elected as the chairperson of the board of directors. Then the Congress Presidency Board Election was held, and two vice presidents and six Secretaries were elected.
The main agenda of the convention, which will continue until Sept. 9, will be to create a charter commission, a program commission, the negotiation of a report on changing the charter and its voting.
Two significant names, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu were also present. While Yavaş underlined that the charter convention would be the CHP’s first step toward becoming the ruling party, Imamoğlu wished that the convention would be fruitful and for the best of the party’s democracy and future.
Some of the most important articles to be discussed during the convention will be the issues of pre-election, term limits for those serving on party boards and increasing the quota given to the party leader in determining parliamentary candidates to 15%.
However, especially the 15% quota has caused internal debates, with some arguing that the party chair already has a 5% quota right arising from the Political Parties Law, and that with the new amendment, the party chair will have the right to determine around 120 deputies, which could damage internal party democracy.
Chairperson Özgür Özel is expected to hold an opening speech in which he is to give messages on the party’s goal to become Türkiye’s top party.
The March 31 local elections as well as the normalization process the party launched with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) are also potential topics on the agenda.
The CHP won most major cities and made big gains in the country’s rural heartland in the local elections, surpassing the ruling AK Party share of the popular vote for the first time in more than two decades.
The main opposition saw the first major change after last year’s general election when Özel was elected chair of the party last November, ending the decadeslong rule of its previous chair, Kılıçdaroğlu. The urge for change consolidated after March 31.
But the road to the government will likely be a bumpy one for the CHP as incumbent Chair Özel has his fair share of dissidents, while Imamoğlu has a significant share of supporters.
The charter convention will be followed by the program workshop during which the party’s new program will be prepared. For two days, program updating works will be undertaken. Central and local administration issues will be discussed as will be global developments.
The CHP will celebrate its anniversary on Sept. 9.
