Sixty CHP members were elected to the council at the party's 34th ordinary congress, which kicked off on Tuesday, yet the YSK announced on Thursday that the votes were miscounted and cancelled the results, ordering a recount. The CHP recounted the votes, and there were no major changes to the composition of the Party Council on second count. Some council members' votes increased, while others decreased. Roughly 500 candidates vied for a seat on the 60-member council. Denizli CHP deputy Adnan Keskin said his votes reached 913 after the recount.

His votes were at 876 in the earlier count. Similarly, the votes of some other Party Council members saw a slight change.

Wednesday’s vote turned into a power struggle among a few top figures of the main opposition party, with each of them struggling to ensure the support of party delegates for the election of their own candidates to the council.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the party’s former and very powerful Secretary-General Önder Sav and a number of other party officials drafted their own lists of candidates for the Party Council and gave them to delegates, asking them to support those candidates during the voting. Most delegates had trouble making a choice among the lists, which led to the voting taking far more time than expected. The second round of the two-day congress began in the early morning hours of Wednesday, but the results of the Party Council vote weren’t announced until after midnight.

In the voting, the CHP adopted a method in which delegates were allowed to cross out a name and nominate individuals according to their own preferences. In earlier congresses, the main opposition party used the “block list” method in which delegates could cross names off the candidate list, but could not suggest candidates of their own. This year’s method is said to be more democratic, but the CHP leader as well as other party officials who prepared their own list of candidates are under growing criticism for implicitly forcing delegates to vote for their personal lists.

Among those elected to the new council were Haluk Koç, Şafak Pavey, Adnan Keskin, Umut Oran, Murat Karayalçın, Faik Öztrak, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Bilhun Tamaylıgil, Hurşit Güneş, Nihat Matkap and Gürsel Tekin. Tekin resigned from the post of deputy chairman earlier this year. Political analysts believe Kılıçdaroğlu won back Tekin’s loyalty after he was re-elected to the Party Council. CHP Denizli deputy İlhan Cihaner also won a seat on the council, though he was not promoted as a candidate on Kılıçdaroğlu’s list.

Twenty female members of the CHP were elected to the Party Council. According to CHP bylaws, there have to be at least 20 women and six young members on the Party Council. The CHP also elected new members to the party’s Higher Inspection Board (YDK) on Wednesday. A total of 128 candidates competed to enter the board, and 15 were elected.

All eyes are now on the CHP chairman to decide whom to appoint for the post of the person responsible for overseeing local party organizations, which is considered the most prestigious seat in the party after chairman. There are rumors that Kılıçdaroğlu will pick Denizli deputy Keskin for the post. In addition, Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to assign Koç, an İstanbul deputy, as the party’s new spokesperson. However, the main opposition party is likely to witness an intra-party fight due to a resistance by Emine Ülker Tarhan, the party’s parliamentary deputy chairwoman, to Koç’s appointment as the new spokesperson.

Gök criticizes Kılıçdaroğlu’s list of candidates

CHP Mersin deputy İsa Gök directed harsh criticism at the CHP chairman and his close circle for drafting a list of candidates for the Party Council and pushing delegates to support the candidates in the voting. He said the CHP administration had pledged to set delegates free during the congress, but their activities suggested the contrary.

He said delegates were given a list of candidates before the voting began, and then the CHP administration made pledges for intraparty democracy -- two contradictory practices, according to the deputy. “Where is democracy here?” he asked when speaking to Today’s Zaman, and added: “This means cheating. Even if the Party Council changes, the CHP way of voting [in the congresses] will not change. This will bring with it distrust of the CHP grassroots and supporters [for the party administration].”