Main opposition party draws strategy for local polls

ANKARA / ISTANBUL

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) kicked off intra-party consultations to draw up a strategy for the upcoming local elections in March. 

The CHP Party Assembly convened on Sept. 14 to discuss a road map for the local elections and the issue of how to determine candidates. 

The issue of the CHP’s presidential candidate for previous elections Muharrem İnce, who declared he wants to run for Istanbul in local elections, was not discussed, daily Hürriyet quoted CHP sources. 

CHP Party Assembly member Erdal Aksünger reportedly demanded to hold a pre-election process for determining the candidates of the three big metropoles. 

Aksünger proposed to hold this pre-election in CHP strongholds and to run candidates in other places who are strong. He also stressed that the CHP should open the door for alliances with other parties in local elections. 

CHP’S Istanbul provincial headquarter, meanwhile, held a workshop in the Sarıyer district on Sept. 15. The party’s provincial head Canan Kaftancıoğlu said they would announce the CHP candidate for Istanbul in early or mid-November. 

After failing to win the presidential elections and underperforming in the parliamentary polls in June, the CHP is now targeting to win big provinces like Bursa, Antalya, Manisa, Mersin and Balıkesir, along with Ankara and Istanbul. 

On Sept. 9, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said that an alliance with other parties was still on the agenda for the upcoming local elections as the “purpose is to win the municipalities.” 

“There is the İYİ [Good] Party, Peoples’ Democratic Party [HDP] and Felicity Party [SP]. We may come together and present a single candidate [for a mayoral post]. The whole purpose is to win the municipality. You will determine the strategy,” Kılıçdaroğlu said at a provincial heads meeting.