CHP Base Needs to Revolt Against Baykal

Dr. Tanju Tosun, well-known for his research on the Republican People's Party (CHP), says that the CHP needs to reinvent itself by distancing itself from the state and formulating liberal, democratic, and labour-near policies. In order to do so, the party needs to revolt against [party chairperson] Baykal and his team."

With 20.85 percent, the CHP has taken 112 seats in parliament. The party has had a 1.46 percent increase in votes since 2002, despite the fact that it collaborated with the Democratic Left Party (DSP) this time.

Party chairperson Deniz Baykal has still not commented on the election results.

Under the leadership of Baykal and his small entourage, the CHP has been sliding to the right since 1990. The results show that those voters who consider themselves leftist do not support this shift and the accompanying nationalist rhetoric.

The CHP is in need of a new political construct, of a new mission. It will either grow smaller and remain the state's stand-by party, or it has to get rid off its nationalist paranoia and move towards a social democratic line.

A left party which is liberal, democratic and supportive of labour needs to be built. The party also needs to distance itself from the state.

In the past, the CHP was based on the question of sharing the political arena. That was abandoned. At present, it orients itself on the state and on preserving the status quo.

In Turkey the left needs to come together. This universalist left needs to be open to all kinds of different colours. It must not be the kind of left which is represented by the CHP-DSP coalition.

The CHP has got an energetic political party base. But this is an organisation which worries that it will not go far with Baykal and his team. This base needs to be encouraged and it could flourish under a new leadership.

However, with the current party regulations this does not seem easy. It will take a serious, clear rebellion of the base.

The party's leaders are not willing to listen to the voters' messages. This has to be enforced by the party base.

If there is a rebellion, a "purging operation", then the CHP can improve. Otherwise, it will remain trapped with a fifth of the national vote. If the party can only net 20 percent two months after the Republican Rallies and the army's memorandum, then that is all the support it currently has.

Although there is a slight rise in votes for the DSP, the YTP (New Turkey Party) and the CHP compared to 2002, this rise can be explained by the considerable number of people who did not vote in the previous elections. That means that the Republican Rallies did not convince anyone else to vote for the CHP. Rather, with its nationalist discourse, it has pushed some voters towards the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). (TK/AG)