The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) seeks to restore its image, tarnished by the arrest of mayors on corruption charges. As promised by reinstated leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the "cleansing process” will now involve pre-emptive steps to prevent future cases. Starting next year, the party will introduce a "performance monitoring system” for its mayors, which will serve as a benchmark to assess whether they comply with the CHP’s predetermined criteria.

With this move, the mayors’ work both to date and in the period ahead will come under scrutiny. Their performance will be assessed based on how many of the criteria they have met, and at the end of the process, they will, in a sense, be given a "report card.”

The mayors will undergo reviews in a number of areas, including project management, financial management, human resources management and public relations. The flow of funds in municipalities, investments and the allocation of tenders are also expected to be examined comprehensively.

Mayors whose activities are deemed suspicious, who fail to meet the established criteria or are found to have performed poorly will not be nominated in the next election. Throughout the process, the main focus will be on clean politics and financial transparency.

All of the mayors who remain under the CHP umbrella are individuals who were nominated in the last local elections during Özgür Özel’s tenure as party chairperson. The party leadership also plans to hold a meeting of mayors shortly to strengthen central authority and discuss steps to be taken for the coming year.

Meanwhile, the CHP will hold a camp for its lawmakers in Bolu’s Abant district from Sept. 25-27, ahead of the opening of the new parliamentary term. Kılıçdaroğlu will also attend the camp. The meetings will address the new legislative year as well as developments within the party.