The fact that the CHP’s current leadership will hold a convention to rewrite the party bylaws with the intention of what it describes as democratizing the way the party is being ruled and the intra-party opposition will hold another convention a few days later for the same purpose displays the severe internal conflict within this oldest Turkish political party.
According to Topuz, both the CHP under the chairmanship of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the opposition perceive the conventions as a power struggle to take the party under their control. Talking to me, Topuz blamed both the policies of the opposition as well as the current party leadership for betraying their supporters by engaging in an internal fight instead of designing policies readying the main opposition party for power in the next general elections.
An opposition group within the CHP accuses Kılıçdaroğlu of attempting to set the agenda of the upcoming extraordinary party convention, an action which the opposition group says is a direct violation of party law. Ali Topuz agrees with the opposition’s argument. Kılıçdaroğlu could have displayed responsible leadership by getting together with the intra-party opposition to find a compromise on the rewriting of the party bylaws, he says.
The current CHP bylaws give too much power to the leadership, resulting in the election of party delegates in all 81 provinces of Turkey who will not question the strong leadership position of the party organization in Ankara. This makes a change at the top almost impossible.
The difficulty of making a change at the top may be the reason why the CHP’s longtime leader Deniz Baykal was forced to resign in May 2010 instead of leaving his post voluntarily following a video leaked on the Internet, which allegedly documented a relationship between him and a former member of the Parliament, Nesrin Baytok.
Kılıçdaroğlu was elected as the new party leader in the same year, after Baykal’s resignation.
“Kılıçdaroğlu was regarded as a symbol of change for the party due to his roots in Tunceli, Alevi identification, humble appearance, reputation as a crusader against corruption, distance from the nationalist wing of the party, etc. Kılıçdaroğlu’s persona was practically a summary of what the ‘New CHP’ stood for. This gave hope to the party’s internal critics and brought a number of Alevi groups back to the CHP. From here onward, the party leadership, headed by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, increasingly rallied behind the ‘New CHP’ slogan. As this new leadership found its footing, the ‘New CHP’ and ‘a CHP for everyone’ became the banners of the June 12, 2011, campaign,” says academic Ayşen Uysal*.
Kılıçdaroğlu thus was considered likely to breathe new life into the CHP, but it did not happen. This is because he has failed to display leadership that will bring the party together under the same goal of readying itself for power in the next elections while ending internal strife. Veteran politician Topuz is of the opinion that Kılıçdaroğlu was later understood not to have fitted the profile the majority of party supporters had expected.
Instead, conflict within the party has deepened.
Touching upon the CHP’s nationalist reflexes, Ayşen Uysal states that another indicator that the CHP never fully managed to extinguish its “nationalist faction” is evident in the “Ergenekon candidates” controversy. In order to appeal to the nationalist vote, the CHP used the Ergenekon case as a springboard for criticizing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) on rule-of-law issues during the election. This provoked resistance from the party’s left, she recalls. Under the Ergenekon probe, there are over 100 retired and ex-officers as well as civilians currently under trial for charges of fomenting a coup to unseat the government.
So what lies in store for the future, Uysal asks.
“Traditionally, the CHP is a party with one of the most fraught histories of internal discord. … A growing sense of disillusionment, insecurity and inertia prevails at the local level. If this pattern continues, the CHP will unavoidably be routed at the next local election,” she concludes.
This outcome is not desirable for any country since an effective and efficient political opposition is essential for democracy. I hope, as veteran politician Ali Topuz says, common sense will prevail within the party to democratize itself from within.
*“Continuity and Rupture: The ‘New CHP’ or ‘What Has Changed in the CHP?’” Ayşen Uysal, Oct. 1, 2011, Insight Turkey. The quarterly journal, in circulation since 1999, is published by SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research.
