Özgür Özel says 'we are effectively starting', gives election date: All signs point to this

Regarding the field work that will begin as of May 4, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel stated, "As of May 4, the Republican People's Party is effectively launching its election campaign.

For a while, we had been conducting an election campaign at the chairman level. Or, we were gathering people in squares in place of our presidential candidate.

We were discussing some potential promises, but when heading into an election, a campaign is a 360-degree effort, and it is a process that requires not just the chairman, but the party's members of parliament, MYK (Central Executive Board), and PM (Party Assembly) members to be in the field.

We have a door-to-door politics strategy that we have been preparing for a very long time." Özel explained that ballot box officials will go door-to-door to meet with voters.

Özgür Özel made these assessments to Sözcü TV Ankara Representative Aslı Kurtuluş Mutlu.

Özel noted the following:

"In the past, ballot box officials were determined two or three months before the elections. We have already determined them. 186 thousand people. On May 4, 106 thousand of them will take to the field. They will start knocking on doors. They will make their first visits to the 300 people in their own ballot box districts, which corresponds to nearly 200 households. The first visits will be in May, and the second in June. We will carry out a different study in July and August. The third and fourth visits will be in September and October. We are starting a process where the ballot box official will go and knock on the doors they are responsible for almost every month, introduce themselves, and explain both the party's program and its promises."

CHP Chairman Özel stated that on May 4, both ballot box officials and PM and MYK members will take to the streets in 81 provinces, and that they will explain both the judicial blockade CHP is under and the rights violations it has suffered, as well as how they will propose solutions to citizens' problems in the field.

"ELECTIONS BY OCTOBER 2027 AT THE LATEST"

Özgür Özel said, "Personally, I think the elections will be held by October 2027 at the latest. I don't think it will be later than October 2027, and all the signs in Ankara are already focusing on this. We must be ready at any moment as if a snap election or an early election could happen at any time, or as if political developments could necessitate an early election. That is why we are launching the campaign."

Özel added, "For a year, the chairman was running more. In the year ahead, the organization and the chairman will run together. Then, in the final six months before the election, it will be a process where we include all parliamentary candidates and everyone who needs to be involved in the campaign, as we will already be in an election atmosphere."

"A YEAR LATER, WE WILL ENTER THE THIRD PHASE, THE FULL CAMPAIGN PERIOD"

Özel noted the following:

"When we said let's make a decision and announce it, people asked, 'Are they going to resign from their duties?' I first said to this that we are on top of our work in our party, in Parliament, and in our municipalities... A determination emerged on this issue. My friends said that doing municipal work is the most important politics and the biggest answer we can give to the AK Party because they are uncomfortable with our success in municipal governance and are attacking us.

Together, our mayors, our MPs, and our PM members will all be in the field. Instead of retreating or taking a step back in the face of attacks, we are shifting gears. We are moving to the second phase of the campaign by shifting gears with our 106 thousand ballot box officials—whose numbers will rise to 186 thousand within a few months—in 81 provinces and with all our elected officials, building on the intense campaign the chairman has been conducting for a year. A year later, we will enter the third phase, the full campaign period."