Is the curse of Kilicdaroglu haunting the Republican People's Party?

A gathering of Justice and Development Party supporters in Istanbul in preparation for the municipal elections (French)

A few hours separate the Turkish parties from the fiercest battle for local elections they have waged in the last two decades, and the most controversial among various segments of society, not because its results will determine the position of each party on the political map of the country during the coming period, nor because it is a battle through which the ruling Justice and Development Party seeks. To avenge his defeat in the 2019 elections, and regain control of the municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara from the clutches of the opposition Republican People’s Party.

But because it comes in light of the most violent political crisis that the Turkish parties are going through, which are divided and dispersed, led by the Republican People’s Party, the largest Turkish opposition party, and the one most willing to rise to power in the country, and to succeed the Justice and Development Party, after an absence from power of up to For about seventy-four years, which raises a state of anxiety among his voters; For fear that the state of division and disagreements that the party is going through will lead to a crushing defeat, causing it to fail to achieve the same results that it previously achieved in the last municipal elections it ran.

Constant failures

The party, which was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923 before Turkey was declared a secular republic, has since ruled the country alone for twenty-seven years. However, after the 1950 elections, it transformed from the sole authority party to the main opposition party, when it lost it to the Democratic Party.

Despite the change that affected many of its leaders throughout this period, and the number of electoral elections that were held in the country and that the party ran either alone or in alliance with other parties, it failed to change its position on the political map of the country and return again to occupying seats of power in it, where it has remained since That date occupies the seat of the main opposition party, as if it has become unable to overcome this stage and move on to another.

Division of decision-making circles

Despite his efforts to present himself as a strong competitor for power, and to declare his desire to rule the country, he is still suffering from the effects of his defeat in the recent presidential and parliamentary elections, and his leaders have not yet been able to overcome this stage and end the state of discord and division that dominates his influential circles in decision-making. The party is divided into three wings: a wing that supports the current party leader, Ozgur Ozal, a wing that supports Akram Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, and a wing that owes allegiance to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former head of the party.

These are the wings that seem to have continued the state of partisanship and paralysis, and decided to move the party forward in this manner, which hindered attempts to bring the diaspora together, heal the wounds, and recover. So that the battle of local elections can be fought with strength, focus, and the ability to confront.

This is clearly evident in the disputes that emerged publicly between party leader Ozgur Ozal, and both the mayors of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, and Ankara, Mansur Yavaş, regarding the names of the party’s candidates for the various municipalities, as each of them sought to impose specific personalities, and strongly refused to comply with the decisions of the supreme body. For the party headed by Ozal.

The rejection of the names of candidates for a number of municipalities did not come only from Imamoglu and Yavaş, but also extended to the popular base of the party in some regions and cities, which announced their rejection of the names proposed by the party, as happened in Hatay, where hundreds of people from the historic city went out in a demonstration. To announce their refusal to have the party re-nominate the same mayor again, as they accused him of failure, mismanagement, and causing an increase in the scale of the disaster that resulted from the earthquake of February 6, 2023, which killed thousands of citizens of the city.

The revolution of the deportees

In addition to the revolution of the deportees, who were ignored by the party leadership, as they were not re-nominated again, and who attributed this neglect to the existence of an organized campaign seeking to exclude them because they were either Kurds or Alawites, and with this approach the party appears as if it is punishing its Kurdish members for its failure to reach an agreement. This secures his alliance again with the People's Party for Equality and Democracy, which represents the Kurds politically inside Turkey.

Which decided to nominate candidates from its members this time; Contrary to what was usual in past electoral elections, in which he always supported the candidates of the Republican People, and called on his supporters to vote for them, which provided them with a huge voting bloc that had the greatest impact on their success, and their seizing the municipalities of Ankara and Istanbul from the Justice and Development candidates.

As for the Alawites, it seems clear that fear of them and mistrust of them still dominates the party’s supreme body. Since they are among the biggest supporters of former party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as they supported him in all his decisions, and stood by him in the party’s last general conference, and sought to confront the attempt to remove him from the presidency, they owe him loyalty, after he brought them to the party and gave them senior positions within it. .

Kılıçdaroğlu returns

The crises of the Republican People's Party did not stop there. Rather, the party faces another dilemma, which is the insistence of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, its former president, to return again, as the man officially denied on his page on the "X" platform that he is retiring from political work, confirming that he is preparing to return in April. next April; That is, after the end of the local elections.

This seemed like a call to his supporters within the party to prepare for this return, as it is expected that the party, with its new leadership, will emerge with a major defeat in the local elections, and lose the results it had previously achieved. Due to the growing differences between Ozal and Imamoglu, who seems to want to impose his will on the party president, and seeks to reduce his role.

This will necessitate holding them both accountable to the party’s supreme body and getting rid of them, which, according to his point of view, means paving the way for his return to head the party again, which raised the state of tension and anxiety within the party. For fear of the reluctance of Kılıçdaroğlu’s Alevi supporters and sympathizers to vote for him in the elections, the party will lose another huge voting bloc alongside the Kurdish bloc, which will have negative repercussions on its results in the elections.

Scandals and accusations of supporting terrorism

Aside from the internal disputes, the Republican People's Party is facing another crisis no less important than its internal crisis, as Meral Aksener, head of the El-Jayyid Party, is leading a fierce hostile campaign against the party and its symbols, accusing them of supporting terrorism, and receiving instructions regarding electoral alliances from members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party in the Qandil Mountains. , directly accusing the mayor of Istanbul of trying to dismantle the pillars of her party, and of being behind the ongoing bleeding of resignations since the presidential and parliamentary elections.

While a number of scandals related to the financial assets of the party leaders were leaked, the media covered a video filmed within the party of a number of its members receiving and counting a large amount of foreign currency, which sparked a storm of disapproval and questions that led to the intervention of the Public Prosecutor, who began an extensive investigation. To know the source of this money, and the reason for granting it to the party.

The party leader came out accusing the Justice and Development Party of spreading rumors against them and trying to undermine their reputation, while Akram Imamoglu disavowed the entire matter, confirming that he did not know about it, and claiming that Canan Kaftci, the former head of the party in Istanbul, may be responsible for this matter.

In addition, the media circulated pictures of a residential apartment in the French capital, Paris, whose ownership was said to belong to the mayor of Ankara, while the municipality is suffering under the weight of debts that are the highest among all Turkish municipalities combined. A video was also circulated of a hugely built villa whose leakers claimed it belongs to Akram Imam. Davutoglu, who always says that he succeeded in stopping the extravagance that Istanbul suffered from.

Difficult situations and a real political crisis facing the Republican People’s Party at a very critical time may cast a shadow on its results in the local elections, which may expose it to a historic loss, and waste its opportunity as the largest opposition party to reserve its place as a potential successor to the Justice and Development Party, after President Erdogan announced that these elections are... His last election as President of the Republic.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.