CHP disciplinary body gathers for first time after convention ruling

ANKARA

A court-appointed disciplinary board of the main opposition party convened for the first time on June 4, days after a ruling nullified the party’s 38th ordinary convention and reinstated former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The High Disciplinary Board of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) held its inaugural meeting under the new administration structure. The session was opened by Kılıçdaroğlu, who returned to the party’s leadership following the court’s “absolute nullity” ruling that invalidated the 2023 vote.

During the meeting, CHP lawmaker Mahir Polat was elected chairman of the 15-member board. Reports said future meetings could address requests for expulsions and other proceedings as the party grapples with a deepening leadership feud.

The board’s first meeting came amid escalating tensions between Kılıçdaroğlu and ousted CHP leader Özgür Özel following the court ruling.

“They ask me what I will do; I will demand accountability,” Kılıçdaroğlu said outside party headquarters on May 30.

He said his priority would be restoring discipline and organizing a “clean and untainted congress” as soon as possible.

Özel sharply criticized the legal process during a parliamentary meeting on June 2, describing the developments as an alliance between “absolute sultan and absolute nullity.”

“If a step back is taken and a [new] convention is held, this chapter will be closed,” Özel said.

Özel also dismissed Kılıçdaroğlu’s newly announced Central Executive Board as a “list of desperation,” as 111 of the CHP’s 138 lawmakers had called for an extraordinary convention.

Kılıçdaroğlu’s list also agreed to convene the party’s parliamentary group on June 9 and the Party Assembly on June 11.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, meanwhile, has rejected allegations of government involvement, insisting that the crisis is entirely an internal CHP matter.

“We are merely observing these issues from a safe distance,” Erdoğan said, adding that neither he nor his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had any role in the political and legal struggle surrounding the opposition party.