CHP leader vows to win elections on June 24

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has vowed his party will declare victory in the parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24, saying 2018 will be the year Turkey returns to democracy, CHP sources told the daily Hürriyet.

“We are ready for the elections. The statement [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan made shows that he will lose. The nation will get rid of them. 2018 will be the year for democracy. They will be given a lesson on democracy,” Kılıçdaroğlu told members of the CHP’s Central Executive Board (MYK) in a meeting on April 18.

The CHP said it formed an election committee to make the party better prepared for early parliamentary and presidential elections on June 24. The committee is set to draft an election manifesto and announce it in the coming weeks.

An issue CHP members reportedly discussed in the meeting was to decide on a presidential candidate without delay. Kılıçdaroğlu is one of the names speculated to run for president.

Reiterating Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks, CHP spokesperson Bülent Tezcan stated that the main opposition “is ready for the elections.”

“We are ready for the elections as though they will be held tomorrow… We accept the challenge. Bring it on,” Tezcan said on April 18 following his party’s board meeting.

The CHP spokesman said Erdoğan was already “ruling a one-man regime.”

“The cause of all problems in Turkey and the one responsible for this is the man ruling the one-man regime,” he added.

He said their decision to hold early elections is “an acceptance of not being able to rule,” while adding that Turkey is on the verge of an economic crisis. He blamed the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for “creating political crisis both in domestic and foreign policies.”

“No need to fool the nation, you cannot rule. That’s why you felt the need to call for a snap election. Bring it on! The nation will decide,” he added.