Main opposition CHP slams MHP for starting legal action against its leader

ANKARA

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has harshly lashed out at the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) for filing a criminal complaint against Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu over his political criticisms on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Three deputy leaders from the MHP started legal action against CHP chair Kılıçdaroğlu, arguing that the main opposition leader’s recent statements were constituting a crime with an appeal for lifting his parliamentary immunity.

The MHP’s file included Kılıçdaroğlu’s addresses to his parliamentary group and some other public statements in which he slams the continued imprisonments of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş and civil society activist Osman Kavala as well as the appointment of trustees to HDP-run municipalities and increased political influence on the judiciary.

As a result of the MHP’s move, a 10-page summary of proceedings against Kılıçdaroğlu was submitted to parliament which noted that a judicial proceeding in line with the Turkish Penal Code will be launched should his immunity be lifted.

CHP Deputy Leader Engin Özkoç criticized the MHP for acting as a “hitman” of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a statement over the weekend.

“The MHP has to return to the realities of the country and should seek solutions to the problems of the people. Those who attempt to silence the opposition should never forget that neither our Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu nor our lawmakers will give up on telling the truths and protecting people’s interests,” Özkoç said.

CHP officials suggest that it was the first time that a political party leader is threatened to face prosecution for merely his political statements. The authority to launch a process about the summary of proceedings belongs to the office of the parliament speaker.