İstanbul mayor launches website for 'change' to challenge party leader

Photo: AA/File

Following the electoral defeat in May, Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of İstanbul and a prominent figure in the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has initiated a discussion on "change." His most recent move was to unveil a new website called "Change for Power."

In a Twitter post yesterday, İmamoğlu invited individuals to join the process of change within the CHP, in Turkey, and towards achieving power. He shared the website's address and expressed his anticipation for public opinions and suggestions.

The text featured on the website acknowledges the existence of an ineffective opposition structure that has "failed to become a viable alternative to the ruling party."

The statement emphasizes the need for a rational approach for the future of Turkey, highlighting that the CHP holds the key to change within the opposition. It states, "A determined will for change within the CHP will lead to a renewal throughout the opposition and a desire to expand the opposition sphere, as long as it questions its political attitudes and institutionalizes intra-party democracy."

The website also urges citizens to share their views and suggestions through the platform.

Although İmamoğlu has been promoting a 'change' within the party, he has not explicitly called for the resignation of the party leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who ran for president in May, nor has he announced his candidacy.

The "change" debate

İmamoğlu, who became the mayor of İstanbul in the 2019 local elections, brought an end to the 25-year-long rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its predecessors in the city. During the 2023 election period, İmamoğlu's name was among the opposition's potential joint presidential candidates. He even received explicit support from the Good (İYİ Party), the second-largest party in the opposition alliance.

After the İYİ Party briefly broke the alliance in early March over a dispute on who would be the candidate, Kılıçdaroğlu had to made a commitment to appoint İmamoğlu and Yavaş as deputy presidents if he won the elections. Obviously, he was unable to secure victory, adding yet another defeat to their already long list since 2010.

Following the loss in the elections, which were considered the toughest in Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's two-decade-long rule due to economic challenges, Kılıçdaroğlu replaced all members of the central executive board of the CHP and initiated the schedule for the party congress. According to the plan, the congress is expected to conclude the congresses of provincial and district organizations in October, followed by the determination of the party leader on a date to be set by the party council.

However, despite these moves, Kılıçdaroğlu gives the impression that he does not want to step down from the leadership of the CHP. No definite outcome has emerged from his several meetings with İmamoğlu since the elections, and both parties continue to subtly convey their messages in their public statements. While İmamoğlu persists in his demand for "change" in the party, Kılıçdaroğlu states that "the leadership of the CHP cannot be handed to anyone on a silver platter."

In an interview with the Serbestiyet news website last week, Kılıçdaroğlu stated, "Of course, every CHP member, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, can be a candidate for the party leadership. But the CHP has never handed its leadership to anyone on a silver plate."

However, it is considered that most of the delegates in the party are close to Kılıçdaroğlu after his long tenure as the party leader, and it is unlikely for him to face equal competition with any candidate.

Muharrem İnce, who fought for the party leadership after running as the CHP's presidential candidate in 2018 but failed, believes that even Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the party and the Republic, would face a challenging chance if he were to compete against Kılıçdaroğlu at the current congress. In an interview with Sözcü newspaper columnist İsmail Saymaz, İnce stated, "Even if Atatürk were to come, his chances at the congress would be slim because the structure has been transformed." (VK)