Kılıçdaroğlu the Absolute Nullifier

When we look at economic indicators, we see very clearly that things are not going well in Turkey. Even saying they are not going well is too optimistic; it would be more accurate to say we are struggling in a quagmire... The fact that an economist is forced to write about law, setting aside the misery in the economy, may be another indicator of the state the country's economy has fallen into. Today, I will write a bit about law and politics.

For the richest 10 percent of the population, things are going well. For the second 10 percent, even if there is some performative crying and complaining, life is quite good. We are describing the misery of the remaining 80 percent. We don't just describe it; we argue that the only hope for a way out is a change in government.

What are the conditions required for a change in government?

First, an election. And then, an opposition group that will lead the social opposition...

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost every election and referendum he entered during his 13-year tenure as chairman, who pacified and stalled opposition voters, and who received votes "tıpış tıpış" (reluctantly/obediently) even from segments that were not his own voters just so that "AKP doesn't come to power," and who dissipated the public's reaction like a pressure cooker instead of turning it into social opposition, lost at the party congress. To avoid giving room for cheap polemics, I must remind you of this: Unlike many who criticize him today, I never applauded Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu when he was in power. For those interested, I am adding a footnote at the end of the article. (1)

CHP'S NEW MANAGEMENT AND OPPORTUNITIES

Özgür Özel, the winner of the congress and local elections, has not yet changed the mentality of Deniz Baykal and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, which distanced the party from Atatürk's principles and pulled it toward neoliberal thought instead of Social Democratic or Democratic Left thought, but he has brought a dynamism to the social opposition. He created a synergy with Ekrem İmamoğlu. He made the CHP the leading party. The nation, tired of the AKP, was waiting for a new hope; he became an alternative.

The disastrous "Table of Six" that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu established together with AKP-larva political Islamists is still in our memories. The 38 parliamentary seats given in exchange for 1 or 2 percent of the vote... The reason I remind you of this is: They were burned once, but... Özgür Özel has another great synergy opportunity ahead of him. Let us also add to this the potential to form a much broader alliance with the nearly 30 percent of voters who remain undecided due to the presence of Mansur Yavaş. Let us also remind you of our expectations that after this "Absolute Nullity" (Mutlak Butlan) predicament, the CHP must also prepare and announce its new discourse that embraces Atatürk's Revolutionism as soon as possible.

The ground where poverty and misery have peaked, and public services—especially health, education, public order, and justice—are failing, did not just emerge. It has increased every passing year, especially with the one-man regime since 2018. Even under these conditions, the CHP under Kılıçdaroğlu's chairmanship could not win any of the 11 elections it entered in 13 years. What is different today, in addition to poverty and voter fatigue, are the developments and potential in the opposition that I tried to summarize above. These conditions are the conditions that will bring an end to the AKP government.

President Erdoğan and his circle will try every possible way to avoid relinquishing power. The injustices committed against Ekrem İmamoğlu and his colleagues in the municipality did not intimidate the CHP and the opposition. On the contrary, their support in public opinion is increasing. The rallies held in Istanbul every Wednesday and in different provinces on weekends show that public support is gradually increasing. From the AKP's perspective, in this situation, a pre-prepared attack plan should have been activated: getting the CHP congress cancelled.

This is exactly where, as an economist, I couldn't hold myself back and wanted to write about law. I read numerous articles by very valuable legal experts and listened to their speeches on television. I talked to my legal expert friends. The impression I got from all of this is: The case is baseless. The filing of such a case is out of the question. No other court can look into a matter that falls under the authority of the Supreme Election Council (YSK).

Let us recall a few events that legal experts have written and talked about based on the Constitution and laws, which would be a matter of "Absolute Nullity" (Mutlak Butlan).

"According to Article 101 of the Constitution, being a university graduate is a requirement to be a Presidential Candidate. This is a matter of Absolute Nullity. Erdoğan's third-time candidacy and election without the Parliament taking an early election decision is a matter of Absolute Nullity. We have not yet forgotten Kılıçdaroğlu legitimizing the third candidacy by saying, 'There is no need for the Constitution or the law; I will defeat him at the ballot box anyway.'"

The YSK's approval of the referendum that changed the regime with invalid votes, by placing itself in the position of the legislature, is the epitome of Absolute Nullity. However, Kılıçdaroğlu didn't make a peep that evening. He left the CHP Headquarters early and went home."

While Kılıçdaroğlu didn't make a peep, he hid behind the excuse that YSK decisions cannot be discussed. He avoided marching in front of the YSK. To dissipate the public's rising reaction, he got up a few weeks later and walked 400 kilometers to Istanbul.

You say YSK decisions are final and support a fraudulent regime change, you ignore the lack of a diploma, and now you secretly support YSK decisions going to the judiciary. You even let your ambition reach such dimensions that you say, "Should we hand the party over to a trustee? Wouldn't it be better if I came back?"

What I understand from what I have read from legal experts and politicians, and the question I ask afterwards is: While there are so many reasons for absolute nullity, why did Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu not speak up, and now, using the CHP congress—which has nothing to do with absolute nullity—as an excuse, in whose name, for what plan and project is he expecting a seat from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan? And why are these coming to the agenda at this critical stage of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP)?

HE SAID "I WON'T LET MY PARTY BE DISCUSSED," BUT FUELED THE DISCUSSION

The attitude Kılıçdaroğlu has taken from the beginning was a harbinger of these days. When the claim that the CHP Congress was dubious was raised, he said, "There is no smoke without fire."

Let us recall his response to the prosecutor's witness summons: "I will not go and have my party discussed in court...". Yet, if he were truly an AKP opponent, he could have made this statement:

"The congress was organized by me and the team I manage. I am responsible for it. It was already clear before the congress that Ekrem İmamoğlu would support Özgür Özel, and despite this, I proposed him as the chairman of the council. And Ekrem İmamoğlu was elected chairman of the council by unanimous vote. A claim of dubiousness cannot be attached to an election held by unanimous vote. Furthermore, once the elections begin, the authority now lies with the election board. A lawsuit cannot be filed for a congress that has passed through the District Election Board, the Provincial Election Board, and the YSK."

He did not say this; by saying "I will not have my party discussed in court," he paved the way for a politicized judiciary. He is not having his party discussed in court, but now the party is being discussed not in court, but all over Turkey and for months on pro-palace television channels. We have set aside the nation's hunger and started discussing Bay Kemal's chairmanship with Absolute Nullity.

I AM NOTING THIS QUESTION FOR HISTORY

In the meantime, let us also emphasize this: If YSK decisions start to be discussed in other courts, who knows what will happen in the future? Who knows what scenarios are being prepared for the upcoming elections?

Legal experts and politicians should discuss the answer to this question.

NO DECISION WILL COME OUT ON JUNE 30 WITH THESE FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES

Let us also make a prediction. This article will be published on Sunday, June 29. That is, the question of whether an Absolute Nullity decision will come out for the CHP Congress still remains valid. It seems legally impossible. I remember with mercy. There is a saying frequently used by our very valuable economics professor, journalist, and writer, the late Güngör Uras: "This is Turkey, my brother, anything can happen at any moment."

Ekrem İmamoğlu's and the other 29 people's diplomas could not be cancelled either, but they were. Then they were arrested. The cost was very heavy. For two years, Turkey has lost 60 billion dollars from the foreign exchange reserves it accumulated by paying high interest to rentiers. Nearly 7 million people with investments in the stock market lost 50 billion dollars. Turkey's borrowing costs increased by around 10 percent. This 10 percent increase in interest means that as the Turkish nation, we will pay 10 percent more interest to foreign and domestic rentiers in the coming years just for this operation. The economic destruction caused by the March 19 operation is estimated to be around 90 billion dollars. Almost as much as the impact of the February 6 earthquake.

I am looking at the Central Bank's reserves, the exchange rate movements on Friday, June 27, and the stock market close. No decision called absolute nullity will come out on June 30. In short, the Central Bank's ammunition is not available for now. But "This is Turkey, my brother, anything can happen at any moment."

MORE WEAPONS, LESS SERVICE

As an economist, I am sorry that I had to write about law. But let us end the article with a reminder. They are dragging the opposition and the public into sterile debates and making them forget the real agenda, that is, hunger and the misery of 80 percent of the population. Children are hungry, the dreams of the youth have been stolen, the farmer cannot plant, the worker and retiree cannot make ends meet, small and medium-sized enterprises are closing down, and even industrialists with increasing incomes are avoiding investment and hoarding their money abroad. According to the decision taken at the last NATO meeting, our defense spending will increase from 2 percent of the national income to 5 percent. We will receive less pension, less education, less health service, pay more indirect taxes, and be exposed to higher inflation.

(1) I raised my voice on issues such as Kılıçdaroğlu's attitudes, especially after the referendum losses, and his legitimization of the AKP's illegitimate practices. During the Table of Six period, I loudly criticized on television the neoliberal economic proposals he put forward, his promises to take the 1921 Constitution as a basis, and his praising of Ali Babacan and Ahmet Davutoğlu, who have great responsibilities for the situation we have fallen into in the economy and the Middle East today. I also wrote about this in my book, "Turkey's Factory Settings for the Twenty-First Century / Counter-Revolution in the Economy." As an Atatürk Revolutionary, I was angry at the CHP's distancing itself from Atatürk. But because of the AKP that has plagued us, for the last 23 years I have voted "Tıpış Tıpış" (reluctantly) for the CHP, and in the last Presidential election for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, and in the parliamentary elections for the Left Party. I have never confused my political party membership with journalism.