If İmamoğlu does not run, who is the CHP candidate? Two fronts draw attention! Why didn't Özgür Özel bring that name to the agenda?

The repercussions of the detention of CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu continue. Another item on the country's agenda is who will be the candidate for the CHP following İmamoğlu's detention...

Nefes columnist Aytunç Erkin shared important notes regarding the candidacy efforts within the CHP in his latest column.

Erkin began his article with the response given by CHP leader Özgür Özel to the question asked recently about whether a third presidential candidate name could come to the agenda:

There is no alternative other than Ekrem İmamoğlu. Ekrem İmamoğlu is our presidential candidate. We have filed a lawsuit against the cancellation of his diploma to make Ekrem İmamoğlu a candidate. I think we will get results very soon. Because it was cancelled in a very unlawful manner. In that case, there will be no obstacle left in front of his candidacy. Whether Ekrem İmamoğlu is inside or outside, he is our candidate. Ekrem İmamoğlu may stay in prison, read his book, and we will win that election on his behalf. We will push for Ekrem İmamoğlu's candidacy until the last day of nominations. There is no other name on our agenda. But if İmamoğlu's official candidacy is not possible, someone else will emerge as a candidate. It does not matter who is in place of İmamoğlu. He will win this election on behalf of Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Following these statements by Özel, Erkin, who conveyed what is being discussed in CHP circles, noted that Özel's move within the party was a bit early, stating the following:

“This statement was premature. It will certainly be discussed. After all, İmamoğlu's legal process is ongoing and it is unclear when it will conclude. But opening a candidacy debate was not the right move.”

Stating that Özgür Özel managed the Saraçhane process well and dominated the crowd, Erkin conveyed the issue of Özel's candidacy as follows:

A reality: Özgür Özel managed the Saraçhane process well, dominated the crowd, and made it felt that he was a playmaker with the contacts he established in Ankara. He even took an extraordinary convention decision on April 6 “against the trustee” and challenged by saying, “I am a candidate, anyone who wants to can be a candidate!” When did he make this statement? On March 21, that is, while İmamoğlu was in custody. Did Ekrem İmamoğlu or his close circle know when he took the convention decision? The answer to this question is important. Or did İmamoğlu say a sentence about the convention to Özel, who came to visit him? We will learn soon.

In the continuation of his article, Aytunç Erkin drew attention to two different fronts within the CHP and noted the following:

Now let's come to the two fronts in the CHP.

We know that former Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his team are following the process closely and are also working against a possible trustee at the convention. Kılıçdaroğlu also supported Özel's extraordinary convention decision with a social media post: “The Republican People's Party is an establishment, a liberation, and a hope. It is the first resistance and the last fortress that cannot be taken over. It cannot be subjected to unlawful interventions. I congratulate our esteemed Chairman of the Republican People's Party and our Headquarters management for the extraordinary convention decision they have taken. We will overcome these dark and difficult days together, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.”

At this point, let me share a detail from the meeting held in Silivri between two names known to be political rivals, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Ekrem İmamoğlu. Following the meeting with İmamoğlu, whom he visited in Silivri the other day, Kılıçdaroğlu made the following statement: “We talked about Turkey's issues. He had already taken some notes; he had come with his notebook. Human history is a history of struggles for justice. Our duty is for justice to truly come to this country. It is also necessary to avoid any action that would cause injustice to this struggle. Those who do not think like us also want there to be justice in this country.” The sentence “He had already taken some notes; he had come with his notebook” in this statement is important. We understand that the meeting was not short, that it was “meaningful,” and we learn that İmamoğlu noted the sentences spoken. After sharing this note, let's come to the other front.

Mansur Yavaş front: We are at the same point

QUESTION: This is eight days after the March 31 elections.

Özgür Özel gave an interview to Yavuz Donat from Sabah Newspaper: “There are currently two strikers on the team. One is Mansur Yavaş, the other is Ekrem İmamoğlu... But many new figures are also shining. It is important to build the best team from these names. When a penalty is won in the last minute of the match, the coach does not say, ‘Let me take it’... He lets his most in-form player take it. Our mayors will do very good work among themselves... When the day comes, one of our friends will be the presidential candidate. (April 8, 2024)”

At the point reached, we know that with the “triple summit” and “primary” process, the double striker (Ekrem İmamoğlu-Mansur Yavaş) has fallen to one, and now that “single striker” is injured and will not be able to be in the squad for a long time. (We will see the treatment process.) So, why did Özel, who said “I have two strikers” from time to time on April 8 and afterwards, not mention the name of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş in his last interview? Yavaş, who said “I am suspending my candidacy” after the diploma cancellation, also said during the detention process, “I will vote for İmamoğlu in the primary.”

Meanwhile, he took the stage in Saraçhane and acted with the crowd, and was accepted by the CHP base. (It is known that Yavaş is always ahead in the polls.) However... it was remarkable that Mansur Yavaş made a “rag” assessment regarding the images at the Newroz celebrations, and that Özel, when asked about Yavaş's “rag” outburst during his meeting with DEM, replied, “The party's message on this issue is the message you hear from the mouth of the chairman.”