Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) will nominate its chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, party’s Deputy Chairperson Bülent Kuşoğlu said Tuesday.
Kuşoğlu made the statement at the inauguration of the party headquarters in the Çankaya district in Ankara.
“I extend greetings of our presidential candidate Kılıçdaroğlu,” Kuşoğlu said.
Although the party did not make an official statement, Kılıçdaroğlu told a recent Twitch broadcast that people can freely criticize him once he is “elected.” However, he later said that the CHP did not have a candidate yet.
The main opposition party is part of the Nation Alliance bloc with the right-wing Good Party (IP), conservative Felicity Party (SP) and the center-right Democrat Party (DP) against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-led People’s Alliance.
CHP's partners have not made a statement about Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy yet.
Back in September 2020, Kılıçdaroğlu had dismissed rumors about his party nominating metropolitan mayors of Istanbul and Ankara as candidates in the next presidential elections.
While the opposition has been calling for having snap polls to elect a new president, the People’s Alliance has opposed it, saying that the elections will be held on the designated date in 2023.
