“Change” is the word among supporters of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). There are no public opinion polls on the current popularity of party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, but the friction is obvious within Türkiye’s oldest party.
Since Kılıçdaroğlu conceded to incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the May 28 runoff, despite the support of at least six parties, more people have questioned his tenure at the helm of the party since 2010. His loyalists are quiet, but even then, they occasionally point out the need to try new ways for election victory. The ambiguous keyword “change” adorns almost every comment on Kılıçdaroğlu or, rather, the CHP’s future.
The aging leader graces internet memes about his “love for the chair” (like a doctored viral video showing him grabbing the empty seat next to the love interest of a young man while others make room for the young man). On a more serious note, several stalwarts of the party, mostly those from old senior cadres of the CHP, openly voice the need for the resignation of Kılıçdaroğlu.
Kılıçdaroğlu tried to suppress a rebellion by shuffling the administrative board and assigning more loyalists to top seats, but more dissidents emerged, though they rarely openly called for his resignation, such as Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.
The opposition to Kılıçdaroğlu most recently manifested itself in a new intra-party movement calling itself Principle and Democracy Movement. Led by Örsan Öymen, a former member of the CHP’s Party Assembly and supported by several prominent names of the CHP, including Algan Hacaloğlu and Nur Serter, the movement lashed out at the Kılıçdaroğlu administration for “destroying basic principles of the CHP, primarily secularism.” It accuses the administration of failing to take action to defend other principles like social democracy and democratic leftism. “Revolution is impossible in Türkiye without revolution within CHP,” the joint declaration of the movement made public on Saturday says.
The Democracy and Justice Movement, another intra-party group represented by Semih Balaban, was more blunt in its statement. It called for the current administration to step down and for the adoption of a new, more participatory and democratic charter. Yet, Balaban was quoted as saying that they won’t support or nominate any candidate.
