CHP sets schedule for new convention amid lawsuit

ANKARA

The calendar for a new main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) convention, seen as a countermeasure to a lawsuit seeking to annul last year’s event over alleged vote-rigging, will begin this week.

The process will start with delegate elections on Aug. 13, according to media reports. District congresses are set to begin Sept. 13 and conclude Oct. 5, while provincial congresses will run from Oct. 11 to Nov. 5.

A date for the regular convention will be set after the provincial meetings, with the main event — where the party’s new leadership will be chosen — expected in late November or early December.

Within party ranks, no challengers to chairman Özgür Özel are expected, with the main competition anticipated for the 60-seat top council, CHP sources told daily Hürriyet.

An Ankara court has adjourned until Sept. 15 a case challenging the validity of the 2023 convention that brought Özel to power, citing “absolute nullity.” The plaintiffs allege the election process was compromised by partial conduct of the board chair.

If the court rules in favor of the claim, it could open the door for former CHP head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s return or lead to a court-appointed trustee to run the party.

In June, a CHP delegation visited Kılıçdaroğlu to urge him to declare he would not seek leadership again if the court annulled the convention. He reportedly refused, citing fears that a leadership vacuum could lead to court intervention in party affairs, according to broadcaster Halk TV.

Özel’s administration expects the case to be dismissed in September or postponed, according to the sources.

"No one who was not elected at the convention can govern the CHP," Özel said in a recent interview with daily Cumhuriyet. "It would be a historical mistake to accept a position after [a decision of] absolute nullity."