A historic primary election...

When I wrote my article titled “Transitioning to another phase” last week, only the diploma of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu had been cancelled. Even this event alone was screaming that politics had moved into a new phase. Addressing this lawlessness, I touched upon the necessity of both ensuring intra-party unity and forming an unspoken alliance within the integrated opposition under the heading of what the Republican People's Party (CHP) needed to do.  

Call it a twist of fate (!) in life or politics, but with the news of the detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and senior officials of the Metropolitan Municipality one day after the cancellation of the diploma, both the unity within the CHP and an unspoken opposition alliance took shape on their own.  Of course, no one would have wanted it to happen this way. As I said, call it a twist of fate or say that every cloud has a silver lining, the integrated opposition that could not be achieved through dozens of leader meetings or back-door diplomacy was achieved through the operation carried out against the Metropolitan Municipality. On the other hand, while people were wondering “how will the turnout be?” since the primary was to be held with a single candidate, and considering the past primary election practices of the Republican People's Party where a turnout of 35-45 percent would have been viewed positively, millions flocked to the ballot boxes. This situation perhaps caused an unexpected primary election that changed the course of history. 

Four days before the primary election on Sunday, March 23, where Republican People's Party members would choose their presidential candidate, Mayor and presidential nominee İmamoğlu was taken into custody. With the shock effect caused by this grave event, people met in Saraçhane for days to make their voices heard and shouted their demands under the leadership of Republican People's Party Chairman Özgür Özel… Those who could not go to Saraçhane showed their reactions every evening at 20:30 from their balconies with pots and pans to protect the last remaining piece of democracy. 

But the “real surprise” was in the primary election to be held on Sunday. As I said, while a turnout of 35-45 percent out of the 1 million 750 thousand members of the Republican People's Party would have been seen as quite good, almost all of the members came to the ballot box against the anti-democratic practices being experienced. 

Let alone the members, thousands of citizens flocked to the solidarity ballot boxes placed at the last minute. Consider that in the 2023 General Elections, the number of ballot boxes across Turkey was 191 thousand 885. The CHP, on the other hand, set up 5 thousand 960 ballot boxes for the primary election. That is, almost 3 percent of the general election… Which was actually quite normal for this number… Looking at this ratio, the fact that 15 million voters came to the ballot box, found 3-4 ballot boxes placed in a single common area for sometimes 2-3 neighborhoods, sometimes 6-7 neighborhoods, and waited in line for hours to cast their votes is a political act that will go down in history. Although the government wants to make it invisible, it is actually a very important support offered to the CHP by the public. Of course, the leadership, effort, and contribution of Republican People's Party Chairman Özgür Özel, who ensured the public's solidarity and turnout in this historic primary election, are immense. It is necessary to give credit where credit is due. 

For what comes next, I hope that our people, who have become sufficiently exhausted, will now find peace, that justice and democracy will function, that lawlessness will come to an end, and that young people will return to their schools and classrooms.