The AKP’s test…

In May, I wrote an article titled “Forcing the CHP into a premature birth.” I emphasized that AKP officials, the public, and the media were excessively bringing up issues of candidacy and internal turmoil within the CHP, fueling candidacy debates and pushing the CHP toward a premature birth. For the sake of follow-up, I would like to share two important elements from that article again. The first is that the glue of this process is “TRUST.” The second is that a “trio” formula must be worked on, which would necessarily include Chairman Özgür Özel, Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş. This formula is not just a sharing of positions or titles. In fact, such an image could damage the sense of trust, just as it did with the Table of Six. This formula is a demonstration of the ability to act and govern together.

At the point we have reached today, rumors are reaching our ears that these three important figures will come together and hold meetings. I hope this is true; it would be a very timely development. These meetings could be planned sometimes as gatherings with a focus on social municipalism, intertwined with the public, and sometimes as closed-door meetings. Meeting only in closed-door sessions can create a negative effect over time (see: the Table of Six meetings)... They will surely find the right path and method.

Ultimately, with at least two and at most four years left until the election, the image of a dispute between the teams of potential candidates will also harm the candidate who eventually emerges. On the contrary, good communication and appearing together will create the impression that “the process is under our control” and will instill confidence in the voter.

Moreover, while the political ban aimed at Ekrem İmamoğlu and the “fool case” intended to remove him from the political arena are ongoing, what is needed most is to act together and inform the public that this ban would be wrong.

The mistake of opposition politics until now has been not acting proactively and following the agenda created by the AKP. Today, it is time to develop and implement proactive political strategies on issues such as early elections, a new constitution, political bans, and the economic crisis.

It must be remembered and recalled that the AKP came to power with the slogan “We will end the 3Ys.” The 3Ys referred to poverty (yoksulluk), corruption (yolsuzluk), and bans (yasaklar). Today, at the point the government has reached, in addition to the quagmire of corruption and poverty it is mired in and has caused, it has reached the point of banning a politician who has won Istanbul three times. At this point, an element that the CHP and the CHP public must insistently emphasize is how far the AKP has strayed from the claims it made at its founding. This issue also has significant resonance within the AKP. Especially regarding the political ban, just as there is a hawkish wing within the AKP that advocates for bans, there is also a broad political elite that thinks this does not suit the AKP and advocates for a return to its founding codes. They may be silent now due to various concerns. But this does not mean they will never speak. In this context, it should be noted that CHP politicians and opinion leaders have moved far away from these disagreements within the AKP because they have focused for a long time on the MHP-AKP arm-wrestling within the People's Alliance. Perhaps they did not care enough... Now, it would be appropriate to focus on this.

Political bans in Turkey are practices that mostly occur during coup periods and hinder the democratic flow of politics. Practices outside of coup periods, just like the outcome of the political ban experienced by President Erdoğan, result in elevating the banned politician in the eyes of the public. One should not forget the pro-democracy stance of the then-CHP Chairman Deniz Baykal regarding the political ban imposed on Erdoğan at the time.

In short, support against bans should first be sought from the public. This support being strong is possible through unity within the CHP. However, on the other hand, one of the stakeholders of this matter, and perhaps the most important one, is the government. Moreover, this issue of bans is both a test for the AKP and a debt of democracy owed to the CHP and the preferences of the public.