Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chair Özgür Özel was reelected on Sunday in an extraordinary election, cementing his place in the main opposition party. Initial results showed he garnered the vote of 1,171 delegates out of 1,276 whose votes were counted valid. Some 105 votes cast in the vote were deemed invalid.
The extraordinary election was held to prevent what Özel called an attempt to appoint a trustee to the party as prosecutors probe allegations that Özel bought votes in a 2023 election where he succeeded Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as head of Türkiye’s oldest party.
The election was no different than another recent intraparty election where jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu was fielded as the only future presidential candidate. Özel, however, had two rivals in Sunday’s vote. One of them, Ümit Uysal, unexplainedly canceled his bid at the last minute while Berhan Şimşek, the other rival, blamed the Özel administration for thwarting his candidacy under the pretext of late application for the race.
Media reports earlier suggested that Kılıçdaroğlu would challenge Özel but the former chair dismissed them and attended Sunday’s convention that preceded the election, alongside other former chairs of the party.
Özel is credited with helping the CHP achieve the first significant success against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in more than two decades after the CHP won last year’s municipal elections in most provinces. Yet, political pundits and the AK Party believe that those results were a reflection of the will of an electorate disillusioned with the rising cost of living, rather than an outstanding accomplishment of the CHP.
Özel had earlier ruled out running for presidency in the 2028 general elections as his predecessor did but his favorite candidate Imamoğlu will likely miss the election amid an impending political ban.
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