The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) unveiled a new party program on Nov. 21, its first major overhaul in nearly two decades, setting the stage for a pivotal convention next week where delegates will vote on the text.
Released under the slogan “Strong Citizens, Secure Future, Winning Türkiye,” the draft lays out the CHP’s governing vision across four pillars: Democracy and justice, economic development, the social state and foreign policy and security.
Party officials said the program is designed not only to modernize CHP policy but to serve as a blueprint for a future government as the party presses for early elections ahead of the scheduled 2028 vote.
"From now on, it is time to tell citizens the solutions, not describe the problems they feel deep down. It is time to demonstrate the CHP’s capacity to govern," party leader Özgür Özel said at the launch event in Ankara. "The march from now on is a march to power. It is time for power."
Central to the draft is a commitment to restore a strengthened parliamentary system, a long-standing CHP pledge since Türkiye adopted its current presidential system in 2018.
The program also proposes lowering the national election threshold from 10 percent to 3 percent and reducing the limit for receiving state treasury aid to 1 percent.
Detailing the economic framework, CHP Secretary-General Selin Sayek Böke said the party aims to "redefine the state's role in the economy" through an active and productive public sector, a fair macroeconomic stability plan, transformation in employment and production and strategic restructuring in key industries.
The draft includes broad labor protections, including a 40-hour cap on weekly working hours, strengthened severance rights and a “zero tolerance” stance on workplace fatalities.
Böke said the party also intends to boost women’s and youth employment and expand education and adaptation programs for people with disabilities
On foreign policy, the text promises to revive Türkiye's stalled European Union accession talks and secure full membership.
The CHP’s current program dates to December 2008. Delegates will vote on the new draft at the 39th regular convention in Ankara from Nov. 28 to 30, a gathering that may also reshape the party’s top boards.
The rollout comes as the party’s presidential candidate, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, remains in pretrial detention in a corruption case the CHP says is politically motivated.
Meanwhile, a legal challenge to the CHP’s 38th convention in November 2023 is advancing toward appeal after an Ankara court rejected on Oct. 24 that procedural flaws should invalidate the gathering.
