CHP's Murat Emir responds to Kılıçdaroğlu's 'no group meeting' declaration: It is not within his authority

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir reacted to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's decision, communicated via a letter to deputies, that no group meeting would be held until he gave the instruction, stating: "Our group executive board will meet in accordance with procedure. In compliance with the internal regulations, it is mandatory to meet at least once a week, and the executive board will determine the location and time of that meeting, as well as its agenda. It will publish this, and subsequently, our group general assembly will convene." 

CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir made statements regarding the letter Kılıçdaroğlu sent to the deputies during a press conference held at the CHP TBMM Group. Expressing their astonishment at the attitude and statements Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has displayed over the last three days, Emir said, "We would like to evaluate his detachment from certain issues, to a degree we did not expect from him, not as him not knowing, but as him being sadly misled by his close circle. Because it is impossible for a Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu who is not being misled to display such incomplete, erroneous, and incorrect interpretations and approaches in our view." 

"You cannot manage the party without the PM" 

Criticizing the trustee management appointed by court order for abandoning the decision to convene the Party Assembly (PM) on June 1, Emir described the justification for this decision—that notifications could not be made—as "negligence." Arguing that Kılıçdaroğlu has taken a step back, Emir said:

"Look, in this letter, he says 'I have given up.' Why? Well, 'notifications could not be made.' People would ask you: You were brave enough to enter the headquarters with gas, batons, and police force to paste the trustee decision on our wall, but you couldn't manage to notify the Party Assembly members? They will ask this. Well, 'they won't convene the party assembly because it wasn't notified.' No. You didn't count first, but you realized that the trustee management is extremely weak there, and you gave up. You were afraid, you ran away. You are trying to manage the party without a Party Assembly. I am saying it here. You cannot manage the party without party organs and without their decisions. If you are going to comply with the law, statutes, regulations, and our internal bylaws, you have no other choice. You will comply with the laws."

"Is this signature yours?" 

Speaking about the letter sent to deputies under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's signature, which states that group meetings cannot be held without his approval, Emir said he "doubts that the signature at the bottom of the letter belongs to Kılıçdaroğlu." Emir made the following remarks:

"He says, 'that he himself has canceled our group meetings, that he will determine them, that he will decide when our group meetings will be held later, that he will inform us, and that we can hold a group meeting after his notification and approval.' Look, there is such a letter. First of all, I do not want to believe that such a letter came from Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Indeed, this signature does not resemble Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's signature either. I ask here: Is this signature yours, is this letter yours? If this letter is yours, you cannot write this letter, Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu we know would at least look at the law, regulations, and internal bylaws and make a decision accordingly. The seat he sits in today is the seat he sat in for years before. But today, it is a seat he was placed in by the decision of Tayyip Erdoğan's court. And it is a seat placed there to 'AKP-ize' the CHP, to squeeze it into the framework drawn by Erdoğan, and to make it give up on its claim to power. But despite all this, we would still expect him to comply with the regulations."

"The Chairman's name is not mentioned in the regulations" 

Explaining how group meetings and their agendas are determined by reading articles from the group's internal regulations, Emir emphasized that the chairman does not have such authority over the group on his own. Emir also noted that the group management determines what will be discussed and what decisions will be taken at the group meeting. 

Reminding that the Parliament is currently operational and that according to the regulations, the group general assembly is required to meet at least once a week, Emir continued his words as follows:

"How are the ordinary meetings of this group executive board held? Are they held by the will of the chairman? No. Look, Article 25 says it clearly. It says: 'While the Turkish Grand National Assembly is in session, the General Assembly meets at least once a week.' The Parliament is not on recess right now. The Turkish Grand National Assembly is on duty, and the group general assembly is required to meet once a week. If we are still complying with the laws and regulations... If they say 'the law of the jungle applies now,' that is another matter.

Who calls the group executive board to a meeting? That is, first the group executive board will meet. The group executive board will determine what will be discussed in that convened group general assembly, who will speak, and what the agenda will be. Who can call the group executive board to a meeting for this? Clause 3 of Article 25. Those authorized to call the group general assembly to a meeting are the group chairman, the group executive board, and at least one-fifth of the group members. In this case, the meeting day, time, and agenda are announced to the members at least one day in advance through appropriate means. So, dear friends, look, our group has a group chairman, group deputy chairmen, and a group executive board. It is the group executive board that is solely authorized to convene the group general assembly and determine the agenda of the group general assembly. The chairman's name is not mentioned in any of these. Therefore, the work and transactions in the Parliament are carried out through the group chairman, group deputy chairmen, and the group executive board. Our regulations are clear. There is no room for the slightest debate."

"The group general assembly is held every Tuesday" 

Stating that the group executive board will meet in accordance with procedure and that the regulations of the 100-year-old party and the TBMM Internal Regulations mandate this, Emir explained the traditions and operations as follows:

"Our group executive board will meet in accordance with procedure. Again, in accordance with the regulations, which were also made in parallel with the Parliament's internal regulations. It is not new; it is the regulation of a 100-year-old party. In compliance with those internal regulations, it is mandatory to meet at least once a week, and while the executive board determines the location and time of that meeting, it will also determine its agenda. It will publish this, and subsequently, our group general assembly will convene."

Upon a journalist's remark, "So you are saying there will be a group meeting," Emir said, "I was born and raised within this party. Every Tuesday, unless there is a very special situation, the group general assembly is held, and the proceedings in the group general assembly are completed. Now, as I stated here, the group executive board needs to meet and make a decision. We meet every Monday and make decisions. Therefore, even I cannot say 'we will meet on the second' right now. On the first of the month, the group executive board will meet and make its decision."

"The current title of Chairman is nothing more than a trusteeship" 

Upon a journalist's question regarding whether the letter Kılıçdaroğlu sent to the deputies meant that "the meeting was planned to be held elsewhere," Emir noted the following:

"Even if he has attained the title of chairman—which, in our view, the current title of chairman is nothing more than a trusteeship, a situation that arose as a result of an unfair court decision that we do not find legal. Since this situation has arisen, he will exercise certain powers. In our view, the first and only power that should be exercised is to take our party to a convention as soon as possible. But beyond that, he will exercise certain powers that he imagines he has, that he finds in himself, but there is no authority, power, or approval regarding the group's executive board, the group chairman, the group meeting, or the location and time of the group meeting that concerns him."