CHP leader mulls a road map after poll defeat
ANKARA
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) who has lost the presidential race in the May 28 polls, will hold meetings with his senior aides and party officials to assess the election results and set a road map for the coming period.
Kılıçdaroğlu will chair the Central Executive Board (MYK) on June 1 and the Party Assembly on June 3 in which the party officials will seek as to whether a change in the leadership is necessary.
As the joint candidate of the Nation Alliance, Kılıçdaroğlu lost the presidential elections against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 28. In his first statement after the polls, he said he will continue his struggle for democracy.
The CHP, on the other hand, had 25.3 percent of the votes and secured 169 lawmakers which includes 14 lawmakers from the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), 10 from the Future Party, 10 from the Felicity Party and three from the Democrat Party. When these lawmakers leave the CHP, it will have 130 seats in parliament.
“Nobody should think that we will continue making politics as if nothing has happened. We will take our steps with the responsibility of the 25.5 million votes,” deputy parliamentary group leader of the CHP, Özgür Özel told reporters.
“We should also understand [the feeling of] 27.5 million who did not vote for us,” he stated. “We will share our road map following our meetings,” added Özel.
In these meetings, the party officials will also decide when to hold the general convention of the CHP. Many believe Kılıçdaroğlu prefers to organize it after the local elections to be held in March 2024.
İmamoğlu calls for change
In the meantime, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu called for change following the defeat in the polls.
“Everything is starting over. Don’t forget that the only thing that does not change is the change itself,” he said. “We are no longer going to hope to get different outcomes by doing the same things.”
He also vowed to work harder for bringing change to Türkiye.