MHP to hold extraordinary congress after elections

If the party remains above the election threshold, Bahçeli will hold an extraordinary convention to renew his administrative team.

The MHP is preparing to take radical steps in the aftermath of the elections considering the recent sex tape scandals involving deputy chairmen and some of its members in Parliament. The MHP leader, whose leadership and legitimacy are being challenged by an alternative nationalist group, has decided to do his best to keep his party above the election threshold. If he fails, it is fairly unlikely that he will stay in power.

Bahçeli’s fate to be determined on June 12

Bahçeli, who is defying opponents of his who claim to have more damning footage of four deputy chairmen, a secretary-general and a member of a top administrative body in the party, refused to submit to the most recent onslaught of threats. This attitude paid off as the group failed to publicize the tapes in response to this move. Despite this, Bahçeli is aware that he is the actual target. Bahçeli, who was blackmailed over stepping down before the election by a mysterious website threatening to release sex tapes of his party’s senior members, on Wednesday announced that he might resign after the elections, if the MHP does poorly at the ballot box.

Antagonists waiting for election day

There is no doubt that Bahçeli will step down if his party fails to pass the election threshold on June 12. Bahçeli resigned after the elections in November 2002 but returned to his post shortly after. This time, his opponents have demanded assurance in the event of a visible failure in the elections. However, it is unlikely that Bahçeli will give any such assurance.

His antagonists who actually want the party to pass the threshold expected that Bahçeli would resign long before the elections without considering the results. In this way, the party would not face the problem of passing the threshold, opponents maintain. If the party fails to pass the threshold, Bahçeli and his team will likely accuse those opposing him, and opponents are trying to prevent this from happening. Some opponents have already announced that they will refrain from supporting the party in parliamentary elections in order to force the party leadership to resign.

The team will be completely renewed

Bahçeli, who will hold an extraordinary convention regardless of the election results, will renew the party administration after the holy month of Ramadan. There are already reports backstage about who will be discarded and who will be included on Bahçeli’s A team. Experts note that the MHP leader will appoint experienced figures from the movement to the administration of the party. Bahçeli will pay particular attention to the selection of names with extensive experience in different government posts. It is almost certain that Bahçeli will take a number of names included on the election lists in the party administration after the elections.

If MHP remains below threshold

The group appears to have based their strategy on focusing on the election results after the MHP took up an anti-government and anti-constitutional amendment position ahead of the constitutional referendum held on Sept. 12, 2010. They are ready to make sure that Bahçeli steps down in the event the party remains below the election threshold. Groups in opposition to the MHP leader have already held meetings in various cities to publicize their action plan, but for now, they prefer to adopt a fairly cautious approach. Bahçeli and his team, who strongly condemned nationalist groups that supported the constitutional amendments, have provoked such groups against them.

Such groups that have decided to wait for the results for now include strong figures such as Mansur Yavaş, Ramiz Ongun, Alaattin Aldemir, Şefkat Çetin and Koray Aydın; these figures are not well received by the current party administration. They are interested in the content of the recent scandalous tapes rather than who captured the footage and released it. They are particularly upset because of Bahçeli’s approach of ignoring the content and focusing on the source of the tapes.

While Bahçeli is the main target, the current operation involving the use of video footage appears to be a plot against his close aides. However, this is viewed as a tactical strategy focusing on the post-election period. It is no coincidence that the footage targets important names who could win the convention elections for Bahçeli. The targets include Oktay Vural, Faruk Bal, Cihan Paçacı and Deniz Bölükbaşı. However, it is interesting that no single allegation has been directed against these names thus far. Some party members argue that these figures may be considered for possible leadership in the party after the elections. For this reason, particular attention must be paid to make sure that their names are not sullied.

At meetings sponsored by alternative nationalist groups, probable leaders are being evaluated for a possible transition of power in the party after the election. Yavaş, who ran for mayor in Ankara, is at the top of this list. His image in the eyes of those outside the party is even better than among those in the party. But Yavaş is determined not to make any statements until the elections.

All in the MHP agree that a new era has just started for the party. Most see this as a reformulation and restructuring of the party. According to Bahçeli’s team, there are attempts to make the new MHP consistent with the new political and strategic discourses of Turkey. They hold that the MHP is being picked as a target because of its resistance vis-à-vis democratization and the Kurdish issue.

Opponents, on the other hand, argue that the MHP was aligned with the CHP starting in 2007. They also view the narrowing gap between the CHP and the MHP and the increasing exchanges between the local organizations of these two parties as the destruction of the MHP.

It appears that not only Yavaş but also some of Bahçeli’s close aides are eager to run for chairmanship of the party. There are reports indicating that Vural, Bal and Bölükbaşı have ambitions when it comes to the chair of the MHP. The possible candidates for the race also include Tuğrul Türkeş, son of Alparslan Türkeş, Koray Aydın and Ümit Özdağ.