CHP to meet leaders for alliance: CHP leader

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said the CHP will meet the leaders of political parties for a possible alliance in the upcoming snap elections, stating that his party is open to “all segments who are in favor of democracy.”

“We will hold meetings with other party leaders and then make decisions. Whoever stands for democracy, whoever is against a one-man regime, whoever wants people to be in peace and for people to express their thoughts freely, we invite them to the June [elections],” Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters in Istanbul on April 19.

His comments come as Turkey prepares for snap elections to be held on June 14, following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s announcement on April 18.

Kılıçdaroğlu sought to voice his party’s confidence in the election, vowing to “bring about democracy” and “crown the republic with democracy.”

As Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have formed what they call a “People’s Alliance” to enter the elections, CHP spokesperson Bülent Tezcan said the CHP is open to “forming alliances under certain principles.”

“We never close the door to alliances. We do not have any preconditions for alliances. We have only one condition: A ruling model that would free Turkey from this trap and strengthen democracy,” Tezcan said in an interview with private broadcaster NTV on April 19.

“The possibility [of forming an alliance] is always there. It could be a multiple-party alliance. We could see a ballot paper where parties outside of the alliance could appear,” he said.

He said the leaders of the Felicity Party (SP) and the İYİ (Good) Party have also voiced a positive stance for an “alliance of principles,” and the CHP will continue its contacts with other parties.

The CHP spokesman noted that the legislative package approved by the AKP-MHP alliance allowed the forming of pre-election alliances and maintained the 10 percent national threshold on entering parliament, while also granting certain advantages for minor parties to enter parliament by entering alliances.

The new legislation allows parties to enter an election under the name of alliances while keeping their logos on ballot papers. The electoral threshold will be calculated from the total votes of all parties in one alliance, giving the small parties the possibility to enter despite not individually crossing the threshold.

Saying the CHP favors all parties entering parliament without a threshold, Tezcan added the “a model canceling out the threshold for other parties can be considered.”

Responding to a question about whether there is a possibility of the CHP entering elections under the banner of an alliance on the ballot paper, he said “surely there is.”

“I will not list who there will be, but there is [a possibility]. The important thing is the principles under which this alliance will come together,” he added.

Adjustment law needed for candidacy

Tezcan also underlined that the constitutional amendment stipulating the shift to an executive presidential system included provisions concerning the characteristics of the presidential candidate, but adjustment laws are needed to instruct political parties to determine their candidates.

“There isn’t any adjustment law yet. There is a regulation about the method of determining candidates for parliamentary elections. It is not possible to decide without seeing the new adjustment law,” he said.

He said the CHP will determine the name of its candidate “in the coming days,” adding that he favors the candidacy of CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu.

Responding to a question concerning his candidacy, Kılıçdaroğlu said the CHP’s party assembly will be the authority to give such decision.

“In the coming days we will convene our party assembly and then we will determine our candidate,” he stated.