CHP leader signals backup candidates if İmamoğlu stays jailed

ANKARA

Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Main opposition leader Özgür Özel said on May 17 that his Republican People’s Party (CHP) could field alternative presidential candidates if jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu remains behind bars ahead of the next election.

“Ekrem İmamoğlu is in prison; they may not release him. We would have candidates in his place. Of course, our struggle will continue. Any CHP member is a candidate for the CHP,” Özel told supporters during a rally in the northwestern province of Balıkesir.

İmamoğlu was arrested in March last year on corruption charges that he denies on the same day the CHP announced his candidacy.

Since his detention, the CHP has staged rallies across the country demanding early elections, with the Balıkesir gathering marking the 109th event in the campaign.

“Until the ballot box arrives, are you all ready to wake up in the morning as a presidential candidate?” Özel asked the crowd.

“We are coming to get to the ballot box as soon as possible, to change the government and put an end to all kinds of injustice ... to once again uphold Atatürk’s legacy with an understanding that embraces the entire society and leaves no one behind.”

Özel also reiterated the CHP’s strategy of appealing to a broad political base through what he has previously described as the “Türkiye alliance.”

“We brought together social democrats and conservative democrats, nationalist democrats and Kurdish democrats, liberal democrats and socialist democrats under the same roof,” he said. “We won this great victory together ... We are the Türkiye alliance, we are all together, and we will succeed together again.”

The CHP scored major gains in last year’s local elections, defeating the ruling bloc in several key municipalities, including Istanbul and Ankara.

Türkiye’s next presidential and parliamentary elections are not scheduled until 2028, and government officials have repeatedly dismissed calls for snap polls.

The CHP has also intensified calls for a parliamentary by-election as investigations targeting its municipalities continue.

Under Turkish law, a by-election can only be held if vacant parliamentary seats reach 5 percent of the assembly, or 30 lawmakers. Currently, eight seats are vacant due to deaths and resignations, below the required threshold.