A one-man regime, less Atatürk and "victim” discourse. Except for the last one, the main opposition New Party’s inaugural convention over the weekend was almost a reflection of the period under Ismet Inönü, Türkiye’s second president and longstanding leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Founded by the CHP’s ousted leader Özgür Özel, the YP elected him in the first intra-party vote on Saturday, where he was unchallenged, and on Sunday, voted on a list imposed by Özel.
In his speech at the convention on Saturday, Özel portrayed himself and his party as the victim of a campaign he blamed on the government and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who replaced him as chair of CHP, about three years after he defeated Kılıçdaroğlu in an intra-party vote of the CHP. His speech was part focused on "invaders” of the CHP he formally left in July and was part a lengthy tirade against the government he accused of corruption. He boasted that the YP was "skilled to run Türkiye” and had the "courage to win the election,” although recent polls show the YP still trails far behind the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Speaking of corruption, the YP on Saturday also welcomed seven mayors of the CHP, who are currently imprisoned pending trial on charges of bribery and tender-rigging. Although most CHP lawmakers immediately joined the YP after its foundation, mayors, jailed or not, shunned the party at first, while Kılıçdaroğlu has pledged that he would cleanse the party of corruption by parting ways with those accused of wrongdoing.
Seven mayors, however, were the only ones joining the party on the day of the convention through letters they penned behind the bars, while claims by pro-YP journalists that more people from other parties would join over the weekend turned out to be false.
The convention was a crowded occasion, but some delegates started leaving the venue early, thinking there would not be a formal election since Özel was the only candidate. Besides being the only candidate, posters of Özel and former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, the future presidential candidate who is also arrested on charges of corruption, were ubiquitous at the venue where the convention was held, while there were only a few posters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of both the Republic of Türkiye and the CHP, whose name was invoked by Özel as their "guide.”
On the second day of the convention in Ankara on Sunday, the candidate list for membership of the party assembly and high disciplinary board, two powerful bodies ruling the party, was unveiled. Most candidates were academics, jurists and representatives of civic society organizations. The party also decided to expand the size of its assembly from 80 to 160. Along with some new names, most were Özel’s former associates at the CHP, including Gül Çiftçi, Yalçın Karatepe, Yankı Bağcıoğlu and Aylin Nazlıaka. Others included former and incumbent heads of labor unions.