HDP co-chairs to step down, conceding disappointing election results

Photo: HDP

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In a television interview on Sunday (June 4), the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)'s co-chairs, Mithat Sancar and Pervin Buldan, announced that they will step down in an upcoming congress after conceding disappointing results in the recent dual elections.

The HDP, which ran its candidates under the Green Left Party (YSP)'s ticket to dodge a possible ban, fell short of expectations in the May 14 polls. Despite losing 6 seats, they still hold 61 out of the 600 available in parliament, retaining their status as the third-largest party.

To compound their disappointment, their endorsed presidential contender, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, was unable to dethrone President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Lack of candidate diversity

"Introducing the YSP to our voters in one and a half months was an important factor. We failed to meet our target. We could not manage the campaign process well," Buldan explained, attributing the party's weak results to a lack of candidate diversity by not including Armenians, Yazidis, and disabled individuals.

Sancar similarly noted that the transition to the YSP resulted in losing valuable votes while emphasizing that nearly half of the electorate wants to see change.

"There is a desire for change in society. Despite all these conditions, half of the society showed their desire for change. Both manipulations and false propaganda have worked. There were situations of voters who did not go to the polls. A sense of helplessness may have prevented them from going to the polls," the party's co-chair since 2020 said, adding that he will resign as the HDP isn't a party of presidents but governed by collective will.

Demirtaş's resignation from active politics

Buldan and Sancar are not the only prominent HDP figures who take a step back, former co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş, imprisoned since 2016, announced his resignation from active politics last week.

In an interview elaborating on his decision, he criticized the party's strategy and offered to be their presidential candidate but received no response.

Reportedly, the party's co-leadership also sought input from Gültan Kışanak and Figen Yüksekdağ, prominent Kurdish politicians who are also currently incarcerated. They proposed to run a woman as a candidate if the Supreme Election Council (YSK) would reject Demirtaş's candidacy.

However, Nation Alliance's contender Kılıçdaroğlu was eventually endorsed in the May 14 and May 28 elections that shattered the aspirations of toppling President Erdoğan, who has been in power for over 20 years in various tenures.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) leader managed to capture an underwhelming 44.8% of the votes in the first round and 47.82% in the runoff. (EMK/WM)