The Republican People’s Party (CHP) faction loyal to ousted leader Özgür Özel has said it will apply on July 14 for the appointment of a committee to lead the main opposition movement toward an extraordinary convention amid an escalating internal dispute.
A three-member team likely to be appointed by a court would be tasked solely with organizing an irregular vote to resolve the leadership crisis, the Özel wing’s spokesperson Zeynel Emre said at a press conference on July 13.
The move comes after 27 members of the CHP’s Party Assembly aligned with Özel resigned in an effort to eliminate the body’s quorum and ask a court to formally recognize that the party organ is no longer able to function.
Under the CHP’s bylaws, the loss of quorum requires an emergency convention to replace Party Assembly members. Özel’s allies argue that the process should also include a vote for the party leadership.
The dispute was triggered by a court ruling in May that annulled the CHP’s 2023 convention over alleged irregularities. The ruling reinstated former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his administration.
Özel’s camp has collected more than 800 signatures from party delegates demanding an extraordinary convention. However, the restored leadership has argued that the court decision prevents such a gathering and said the party should follow its regular congress calendar, scheduled to begin in September.
Özel’s supporters are expected to argue before a civil court that the decision does not prevent the party from holding an extraordinary gathering.
Emre also called for the appeal against the ruling on the 2023 convention to be concluded before the summer judicial recess.
“We want to see the decision from the Court of Appeals to at least see that Türkiye is showing signs of being a state governed by the rule of law,” he said.
Özel’s allies and reports have suggested that the faction has been working on preparations for a new political party.
