CHP’s 15 resigned deputies return from İYİ Party

ANKARA

Fifteen lawmakers who resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to join the İYİ (Good) Party and ensure the latter’s participation in snap elections have returned to the CHP after the İYİ Party’s participation was secured.

“Mission accomplished, our friends are returning to their home … We thank them, history will remember them with this grand gesture,” CHP Deputy Group Chair Özgür Özel told reporters at parliament on May 10.

After resigning from the İYİ Party, the 15 deputies will apply to be candidates for the upcoming June 24 elections on the list of the CHP.

The lawmakers temporarily joined the İYİ Party in a bid to allow it to form a 20-deputy party group in parliament, constitutionally gaining the right to enter elections.

“Upon the instruction of our party’s leader, 15 of our friends joined the İYİ Party as a precautionary measure to avoid possible problems occurring right at the start of the election period,” CHP spokesman Bülent Tezcan had announced on April 22.

Doubts about the İYİ Party’s participation in the election had been raised as the party had not completed its required general congresses over six months before the election, which is a constitutional necessity to participate in national elections in Turkey.

İYİ Party spokesperson Aytuğ Çıray thanked the CHP and the 15 deputies for their move, adding that the necessity for such a gesture is a “shame” for Turkey’s democracy.

“This picture today is a proud picture for us but it is a shame for those who rule Turkey, for Turkish politics and for democracy,” Çıray said.

“We wish the election was not held being under the state of emergency, and wish Turkish democracy and election procedures did not necessitate such measures,” he added.