CHP mobilizes polling officials nationwide amid early election push

ANKARA

Main opposition leader Özgür Özel said on May 4 that his Republican People's Party (CHP) is moving into a new phase of its early election push, deploying tens of thousands of polling station officials across Türkiye to engage directly with voters.

"From today onwards, the CHP is shifting from defense to offense, going into the field to change the government and bring justice against those who commit these injustices," Özel said.

During a meeting at the party’s presidential candidate office, Özel said the campaign “has entered a new phase,” centered on grassroots outreach.

"Our polling station officials are starting today. 106,000 polling station officials are beginning to meet with the people voting at their polling stations that day. This number will reach the target of 186,000 in two months," he said.

Özel added that the party would carry out an intensive field program across all 81 provinces and 973 districts, involving senior party officials, lawmakers, local leaders and members of its women’s and youth branches.

In a previous interview with T24, Özel said the party is also planning a nationwide “polling station security exercise” in September to test election preparedness.

The CHP has stepped up calls for early elections following the arrest last year of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the party’s presidential candidate, on corruption charges he denies. Türkiye’s next national elections are currently scheduled for 2028.

İmamoğlu was detained on the same day he was named as the party’s candidate.

Meanwhile, the party announced that Özkan Yalım, the detained mayor of the western city of Uşak, was unanimously expelled following a disciplinary committee decision on May 3.

Detained on March 27, Yalım was later arrested along with eight others as part of an investigation into bribery, embezzlement and bid rigging. The Interior Ministry subsequently suspended him from office.

The CHP had previously suspended Yalım’s membership and launched disciplinary proceedings after images showing him with a woman in a hotel room in Ankara during a bribery operation were leaked to the press.