The Republican People’s Party (CHP) is pushing for an early election as the corruption cases pile up.

In remarks on Tuesday, the party’s leader, Özgür Özel, hinted at a new move for rescheduling the 2028 general elections. Though he did not elaborate, pro-CHP media outlets say the party may have several lawmakers resign to force Parliament to have an early election.

Özel has been vocal about his calls for an early vote as a court in Ankara handles a trial questioning the legitimacy of Özel’s leadership at Türkiye’s oldest party. On Wednesday, a new hearing was held in the trial over the CHP’s 38th Congress, which brought Özel to power in November 2023. Özel and his associates are accused of buying votes of delegates to oust then-Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The trial was postponed to May 6 amid media reports that the verdict will likely be an "absolute nullification” of the Özel administration.

Suspects testifying at Wednesday’s hearing rejected allegations that they either were paid by the close circle of Özel to vote for him or were scheming to offer gifts and cash to other delegates to sway their opinion of Özel. Testifying at the hearing, witness Veysi Uyanık, a delegate at the 2023 congress, said that the then Istanbul mayor, who was arrested last March on charges of corruption in a separate case, met him and other delegates before the congress, seeking their support for Özel. Uyanık said Özel had an election office in Ankara and his supporters were "handing out cash” to delegates. "I asked how much they pay, Özgür Karabat (one of the defendants in the case) told me that they would pay TL 100,000 ($2,250). Karabat’s chauffeur then gave me a ride to my hotel. They pulled a cache of free food coupons from the trunk and gave them to me. I later found out they were worth TL 1.5 million,” he said. Uyanık said he handed TL 20,000 to other delegates staying with him at the hotel after taking TL 100,000 from Karabat.

Mehmet Sevigen, a former lawmaker who testified at the hearing, said he heard reports of vote-buying at the congress and repeatedly warned the CHP administration to respond to the allegations. "But they did not answer,” he told the court.

If judges annul the 2023 congress where Özel was elected, the chairperson would be stripped of his mandate, and Kılıçdaroğlu, who led the party for more than a decade before narrowly losing to Özel, would automatically return as chair.

The CHP is already embattled with a series of corruption cases that saw its mayors detained or arrested on charges of widespread corruption. The party’s future presidential candidate, Ekrem Imamoğlu, is among them and faces a hefty prison term on charges of running a criminal network thriving on bribes and rigging public tenders, through collaboration between the municipal bureaucrats and businesspeople.

Since the corruption cases emerged, Özel has been more blunt on his calls for the early elections, apparently encouraged by an unprecedented success by his party in the 2024 municipal elections. Özel told a news conference in Ankara that he would seek a meeting with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş in the coming days. "The speaker should declare his stance on an early election. We will make a significant move soon for an early election,” he sufficed to say.

Media outlets reported that the CHP would initially seek a by-election in Parliament. The Constitution allows a legislative by-election after 30 months have passed since the last general election and one year before the scheduled date of the next election. If vacant parliamentary seats are 30 or more, Parliament is mandated to declare a by-election. Unconfirmed reports say eight seats are already vacant, and if 22 CHP lawmakers resign, Parliament may decide on a by-election. However, the resignations will be only valid if Parliament’s General Assembly approves, where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) retains a majority. Özel will likely seek to persuade Kurtulmuş to approve the resignations, media reports say. The government has repeatedly rejected calls for an early election, although the AK Party signalled that the 2028 election may be rescheduled, but only to the last months of 2027.