Özel vows to step down if New Party fails in first polls

ANKARA

New Party Chairman Özgür Özel arrives at the party’s new headquarters in Ankara.

Türkiye’s opposition leader Özgür Özel said on Aug. 31 that all administrative positions of his New Party would be limited to three terms and pledged to step down if it fails to take power in next elections.

During a press conference at the party’s new headquarters, Özel said New Party will allow members to directly elect district, provincial and national party leaders.

“We are abandoning the old-generation organizational model based on the delegate system,” he said.

Özel said the party had attracted more than 600,000 members in 18 days and raised 539 million Turkish Liras (around $11.2 million) through donations from 152,000 contributors and membership dues. The new headquarters was funded by public contributions, he said.

“Our wealth is not money in our coffers, it is the trust of the people in us and their belief in the future,” Özel said.

On July 24, Özel resigned from his post as Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, breaking away with 90 fellow lawmakers to establish the New Party. His departure came two months after an Ankara court annulled the CHP’s 2023 leadership election over alleged irregularities, removing Özel as chair and reinstating former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The emergent main opposition party completed its organization in 72 provinces and 857 districts, with the remaining nine provinces expected to be organized this week, Özel informed.

He said district leadership primaries would be held on Sept. 26, while provincial votes would take place on Oct. 17-18. Members joining the party through the end of September would be eligible to vote in provincial leadership elections, while those joining through the end of October would be eligible to vote in the election for party leader, he said.

Özel also announced a three-term limit for all party leadership positions, also applying the principle to himself and making a pledge tied to the party’s first election.

“If I fail to make the party the largest party and the governing party in the first election we enter, I will immediately go to a party convention and hand over my position to the next party leader,” he said. “The prerequisite for promising democracy to the country is to establish it in your own home first.”