CHP has determined its presidential candidate: MP

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has designated a presidential candidate for the 2019 elections, when the system change stipulated by the April 16 referendum will be in effect, a CHP Istanbul lawmaker said, adding that the main opposition will reveal the name “when the time is ready.”

“The honorable CHP chair [Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu] has a presidential candidate and mayors already in mind,” Gürsel Tekin said on Oct. 19 in a televised interview with private broadcaster Habertürk.

Tekin stated all the mayors have been designated. “The CHP leader has all of them in mind. We are heading towards a very critical election. We have currently been planning just as our opponent has been planning,” he said.

According to a conclusion by the private research company SONAR, postponing to announce the presidential candidate can negatively reflect voter behavior. “Previous regulations had been more democratic but when your opponents do not implement democratic regulations, then you fall behind,” said Tekin, regarding the conclusion.

“As of today, work is being done in 81 provinces [in Turkey],” he added.

When asked whether CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu will present himself as a candidate, “You will see when it is time,” said Tekin.

Kılıçdaroğlu has previously stated “he does not find it right for a party leader to be president” when asked that question.

Tekin also left the question of whether CHP lawmaker İlhan Kesici would be a candidate unanswered.

The CHP’s presidential candidate “would be a name that can be accepted by 49 percent and who can receive a ‘yes’ vote from 5 or 6 percent,” said Tekin, reiterating Kılıçdaroğlu’s comments from earlier.