Still no name for presidential polls mentioned: CHP leader

ANKARA

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu speaks during a press meeting on June 2, after consultations with trade unions regarding the August elections.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is still not at the stage of voicing its presidential candidate, its leader has said, pouring cold water on reports that the CHP’s former Ankara mayoral candidate, Mansur Yavaş, was set to be announced.

“Mr. Yavaş is sure to make evaluations [on the presidential election]. I saw his interview this morning. But we have not made any evaluations on specific names yet,” CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters on June 2, after consultations with trade unions regarding the August elections.

Kılıçdaroğlu said the purpose of such meetings was to provide a “general consensus on principles” for the upcoming elections.

Yavaş, a former member of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was nominated to run for the Ankara mayoral position from the CHP ranks in March, but lost out in a contested result to the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) incumbent, Melih Gökçek.

In an interview with daily Hürriyet, Yavaş did not rule out his candidacy for the presidential elections, stressing that he could attract votes from both social democratic and nationalist voters. Kılıçdaroğlu met with MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli on May 30 as part of efforts to find a joint candidate to stand against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the August vote.

 “The people will elect the person who will occupy this seat [for the first time ever]. That’s why the next president should be someone embracing all segments of society,” Kılıçdaroğlu said June 2, adding that the elected name “should be recognized as ‘my president’ by everybody in Turkey.”

“There are many who fulfill these conditions. We certainly have people who have not polarized society, who embrace all segments, who have had important successes in their fields, and who know the world. We’ll introduce these candidates to you,” he said. 

The CHP leader also emphasized that the president should be someone who protects “the healthy functioning of the state system and the separation of powers.”