Candidacy crisis at the CHP Convention: Chair of the Council refutes Berhan Şimşek

The 21st Extraordinary General Assembly of the CHP was held in Ankara. Berhan Şimşek, who claimed that his candidacy application for the elections, in which CHP leader Özgür Özel was a candidate, was not accepted because he was "5 minutes late," was refuted by Council Chair Bülent Nuri Çavuşoğlu. Çavuşoğlu said, "Forget 5 minutes; nothing reached us until the end of the Chairman's one-and-a-half-hour speech."

Council Chair Bülent Nuri Çavuşoğlu stated, "Our candidacy applications, which we opened at 10:20, ended at 10:50. Within the application period, there was only one application officially made to our council in accordance with the requirements. The application belongs to our Chairman, Mr. Özgür Özel."

Çavuşoğlu made the following statement regarding the matter in the convention hall:

"The claim that his candidacy for party leader was not accepted because he was 5 minutes late, as Berhan Şimşek said, is not true. Aside from applying within the designated half-hour period, no application was made until the end of Chairman Özel's speech. When Şimşek came to the council, he did not arrive with any documents in his hand."

Antalya Muratpaşa Mayor Ümit Uysal, who announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy while CHP Chairman Özgür Özel was delivering his speech, said, "I have decided not to pursue my candidacy for reasons I will not detail here, so as not to damage my party."

In the election for Chairman, 1,276 votes were cast, 105 votes were deemed invalid, and Özgür Özel was re-elected Chairman with 1,171 votes.