Ali Mahir Başarır on the party congress: If Özgür Özel doesn't win, I will step down

The highly anticipated 38th Ordinary Congress of the Republican People's Party (CHP) began at 10:00 AM.

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu will serve as the Chair of the Congress, which is being held at the Ankara Sports Hall.

A total of 1,367 delegates from 81 provinces will elect the new chairman and the new Party Assembly (PM).

Speaking at the venue where the congress is taking place, CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır announced in a statement to TELE1 that he would step down from his position if Kılıçdaroğlu wins the election.

Başarır said the following in his speech:

“My signature is for Mr. Özgür Özel. I say 'enough is enough'; our delegates are my family. I know the families of our delegates; you sent them off saying 'change, change, change.' If we change, if the party returns to its founding values, we will win. My heart and my will are with Özgür Özel. If it doesn't happen and the current chairman wins, I will act ethically and step down. This is a matter of ethics. I was not created by the group chairmanship; I was created by the streets. We have friends who are young deputies. There is Faik Bey, there is Engin Altay. I would hand it over to them with peace of mind. There is Ali Öztürk who is designing Hatay. I would hand it over to them. I have been a deputy for 5 years, they have been deputies for 5 months."

Başarır also stated that he expects Özel to win the race with 750 votes.

News Source: 12punto