As the incumbent mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu locked horns with the leader of his party, a new opinion poll shows the opposition supporters may opt for lawmaker Mustafa Sarıgül if he is nominated in municipal elections in 2024 for Türkiye’s most populated city, Istanbul.
The poll by ORC research company asked an open-ended question for some 2,600 people for candidates they wish to be nominated if İmamoğlu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is not nominated. More than 36% of the interviewees named Sarıgül, former mayor of the city’s upscale Şişli district and a popular figure on social media with his outlandish TikTok videos. Sarıgül, who left CHP years ago after a dispute with its former chair Deniz Baykal, returned to CHP before May 14 elections and was elected as lawmaker from his hometown of Erzincan.
It is unclear whether İmamoğlu would be nominated again after his landmark victory in Istanbul that ended the lengthy reign of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2019. The mayor, who increasingly became a loathed figure for Istanbulites for a series of issues plaguing the city, allegedly aimed for the seat of CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Video of a secret meeting of İmamoğlu and former aides of Kılıçdaroğlu indicated that he was looking for the ouster of the CHP chair through intra-party elections. Several prominent CHP figures, meanwhile, suggested him to remain as mayor. İmamoğlu has joined a chorus of dissidents calling for a change in the main opposition party after Kılıçdaroğlu was defeated by incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May’s presidential election. İmamoğlu faces an insult and a corruption trial that may thwart his potential second run for Istanbul’s top office.
Canan Kaftancıoğlu, who was recently involved in a verbal spat with İmamoğlu over “change” in CHP, trails behind Sarıgül in the opinion poll with 16.5%. Kaftancıoğlu is the head of CHP’s Istanbul branch. Interviewees also named Özgür Demirtaş, an economist who cultivated a cult following on social media with his tweets critical of the government, winning the hearts of CHP supporters.
