CHP introduces mayoral candidates, vows victory in big cities

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has introduced its mayoral candidates, including those for metropolitan Istanbul and capital Ankara, in a ceremony with vows to increase the number of municipalities it controls with almost seven weeks to go to polls.

“Why do we have to win the municipal elections? We have to win for those who suffer from high cost of living, for the youngsters who plan to quit the country, for our workers, for those who have concerns about the future of Türkiye and for our pensioners,” CHP Chairman Özgür Özel said at the meeting in Ankara on Feb. 18.

Türkiye will hold mayoral elections on March 31. CHP will try to continue ruling in Türkiye’s biggest cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana and Antalya. In Istanbul and Ankara, incumbent mayors Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş will try to defeat their main rivals from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Murat Kurum and Turgut Altınok respectively.

The CHP has proven its capability to run Türkiye with its performance in governing Türkiye’s largest cities, Özel said, underlining that they want to increase the number of municipalities by winning cities like Denizli, Bursa and Balıkesir.

Özel informed that the number of female candidates has increased two times comparing to 2019 local polls but admitted that this was not enough. “This is an important step, but I should also say that this is not sufficient for a political party which advocates gender equality. We will continue our efforts to increase the female representation at every level of our party management,” he said.

He also stressed that the number of candidates younger than 40 years old has also increased significantly. “We have appointed 196 young candidates. This is a big step,” he said.

On internal criticisms about the selection of candidates, Özel said the party held 11 Party Assembly meetings and conducted so many public opinion surveys to better spot the electors’ sentiments. “I respect all the criticisms. But what I would like to highlight is those who prioritize the success of the party instead of his or her personal career,” he said.

DEM appoints candidates for Ankara and other cities

In the meantime, the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has announced its candidates for a number of southeastern Anatolian cities and Ankara.

For Ankara, former mayor of Diyarbakır Gültan Kışanak and deputy co-leader Öztürk Türkdoğan have been appointed as co-mayoral candidates, the spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan announced over the weekend.

Other cities the DEM announced candidates are Şanlıurfa, Bursa, Gaziantep, Malatya, Konya, Kocaeli, Aydın, Osmaniye, Kilis, Adıyaman, Tunceli, Kocaeli and Elazığ. The DEM and the CHP will make a limited partnership for Mersin greater municipality and Mersin district of Akdeniz.