Opposition to disclose joint economic policies, system proposal: CHP chair

Serkan Demirtaş - ANKARA

The opposition alliance has agreed on a 23-page set of proposals for a return to a strengthened parliamentary system and is discussing a compromised economic policy, the chair of the main opposition party has said, informing that the alliance will announce its presidential candidate after the decision for the elections are taken.

“A 23-page document has emerged as a result of the talks between the representatives of six parties. It explains the deficiencies of the current presidential system and details how quickly it should be replaced by the strengthened parliamentary system. It will be made public after all the chairs approve it,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said at a meeting with the Ankara bureau chiefs of newspapers on Dec. 27.

The CHP is the biggest component of the Nation Alliance, made up of the İYİ (Good) Party, the Democrat Party and the Felicity Party. Although they are not formal members of the alliance, the Future Party and the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) have joined these talks.

“Our fundamental target is to come to power through democratic ways and run the country with the principle of rule of law. We all see that this current system drags Turkey into a disaster,” he suggested, stressing that democracy is the common point of all these six parties.

The leaders of the opposition alliance have developed a very good understanding and a direct dialogue, he said, stressing that although each of these parties have a different opinion on the economy they are now working on a compromised program.

“We have found that our views are not contradictory. They are rather supplementary to each other. There are sure things that we differ in but we have the wisdom to come together and discuss them openly,” he said.

11 questions to government on economy

Kılıçdaroğlu reiterated his criticisms over how the government is trying to run the Turkish economy and accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of creating conditions for one of the biggest heists of the Turkish Treasury.

“What we have seen was a heist taken place on a single day. This was organized by Erdoğan and his aides. Certain people have benefited from this in an extraordinary way,” he said.

The CHP is submitting a parliamentary motion that involves 11 specific questions for investigating what really happened on the night of Dec. 20 after Erdoğan announced some measures that led to a big decrease in the value of foreign currencies.

Kılıçdaroğlu argued that the Central Bank and the public banks on that night sold $19.1 billion in a bid to revalue the national currency against foreign currencies, saying, “If President Erdoğan rejects this figure, he should better support our motion to investigate what happened. But I think he cannot do so.”

Alliance won’t rush to name a candidate

On a question, Kılıçdaroğlu stated that the opposition alliance has not yet decided over who will run for presidency, saying, “We think it is still too early. We would announce our candidate when the decision for the elections will be taken.”

“We have not discussed this matter yet. But we say our candidate should be a person who knows how the state should be governed. He or she should be a role model. We are not going to elect a popstar. This person should be able to keep the unity of the alliance and lead the transformation of the system,” he added.

He denied that he and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu sparred over the presidential race, repeating that the mayors continue to serve their constituencies in an intensive way. On a question, Kılıçdaroğlu denied that former President Abdullah Gül may turn out to be the opposition’s alliance, saying, “We have never discussed this. Yes, he is a person who knows how to run the state, but he is not the only one.”