President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has lambasted his opposition, Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, for "showing his true colors by being a dictator" since the latter has been under fire for clinging to his seat despite calls for his resignation following last month’s electoral defeat.

"Everything that unfolded on the opposition side since May 28 makes it clear what kind of disaster Türkiye has avoided," Erdoğan told an awards ceremony in Istanbul on Saturday, referring to the presidential runoff he won against Kılıçdaroğlu after May 14 polls that secured stability for the country.

"The quarrel that broke out that night among those who kept going on about reconciling the people is yet to stop. It’s now clear that he who promised ‘democracy’ to people became a dictator overnight when it came to leaving his chair," Erdoğan said, a thinly veiled jab at Kılıçdaroğlu and his insistence on staying at the head of the CHP.

The president further slammed Kılıçdaroğlu and his CHP-led six-party bloc Nation Alliance, partners since 2018 for elections, for "showing the people their dog-eat-dog mentality" in the wake of the May polls.

Praising the Turkish people for "recognizing the opposition’s true face," Erdoğan urged the bloc to display a similar attitude.

"We hope the opposition recognizes its mistakes and corrects itself. It would benefit both themselves and our democracy if they could do politics not against people but for the sake of the country and the people," Erdoğan said.

He stressed the need for a "fresh opposition mindset" in Türkiye. He quipped, "We have amended many shortcomings in the past 21 years, from rights and freedom to infrastructural investments, but we just haven’t been able to amend one of our most chronic problems, the opposition."

Describing the outcome of last month’s elections as "an opportunity" for the opposition to do so, Erdoğan remarked: "Türkiye doesn’t deserve a spoilsport opposition that objects to every good deed. The people don’t want to see an opposition practice that has lost enough equilibrium to cooperate with terrorist groups just to come to power.

"Türkiye needs an opposition mindset free of intra-party quarrels and throne fights between father and son. I hope such a thing happens in the 'Century of Türkiye.'"

"Every illicit promise and bargain they struck behind closed doors with terrorist groups will come out into the light over time, and we will be grateful for having dodged all of that," he concluded.

Kılıçdaroğlu has been facing a rising chorus of demands for him to step down. However, his steadfast refusal to address his and his party’s defeat in last month’s presidential and parliamentary elections has fueled anger among both CHP circles and plunged Türkiye’s biggest opposition party into turmoil.

Kılıçdaroğlu, who has never once won against Erdoğan in the last dozen elections, had been criticized for lacking a general flare that would excite voters long before he was named the joint presidential candidate of the Nation Alliance. Despite joining forces, the bloc also performed poorly in legislative polls and lost the Parliament majority to the Justice and Development Party-led (AK Party) People’s Alliance.

Against mounting pressure over what many CHP voters called a "failure" to lead a successful election campaign, the party blamed "unfair conditions" for the defeat. It also argued it would "learn from its mistakes," but Kılıçdaroğlu has remained unfazed by the backlash so far.

Days after the election results, all members of the central executive committee also walked out on Kılıçdaroğlu, who "welcomed" their resignations and later appointed a new committee of his own design in a move interpreted as his attempt to keep his chair.

Many have since compared the CHP leader to a dictator, including prominent CHP politician Mehmet Sevingen, who previously served as a minister and a lawmaker until his discharge in 2021.

"To me, Kılıçdaroğlu is a dictator. It’s the first time under his rule that deputy chairs at CHP were appointed instead of elected," Sevingen pointed out in a televised interview on Saturday and slammed Kılıçdaroğlu for refusing to put it up for a vote.

The CHP is scheduled to hold an election to choose its next chairperson at its upcoming congress later this year, and Kılıçdaroğlu will probably be challenged. While he did not openly say it, widespread rumors claim he would run again for the prestigious post, much to the dismay of CHP members and voters alike.

CHP ranks have been chanting for change in leadership for weeks now, as several members, most notably the party’s popular Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, have come forward and hinted at removing Kılıçdaroğlu from the seat he has been holding since 2010.

Many see Imamoğlu as the strongest contender to replace Kılıçdaroğlu, despite an ongoing lawsuit that could bar him from politics and dim his chances fast. "We can't make the mistake of doing the same things and continuing on our path," Imamoğlu has said several times recently.

Pundits argued Kılıçdaroğlu, who has fondly called Imamoglu "my son" during the election campaign, could face irreversible resentment if he were to block Imamoglu’s ascent.

Strife has spilled over to the CHP’s alliance partner, the Good Party (IP), as well, which saw several members resign after May 28, citing "incompatibility" and the bloc’s tolerance of support from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party linked to the PKK terrorist group.

The PKK itself was vocal in endorsing Kılıçdaroğlu against Erdoğan, something the CHP leader is often maligned for. Freeing the group’s ringleader Abdullah Öcalan and HDP’s former Chair Selahattin Demirtaş from jail was also one of his campaign promises.

Türkiye is slated to host local elections in March next year when mayoral seats of its top metropolitans, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, will be on the ballot. If prolonged, infighting could deal another major loss for the opposition in key cities.