Nebil İlseven writes: The 'member' as the true owner of the party and the CHP Charter Congress

THE "MEMBER" AS THE TRUE OWNER OF THE PARTY and the CHP Charter Congress

Nebil İLSEVEN, Social Thought Institute

The CHP has set out to hold its long-awaited Charter Congress at the beginning of September. The true meaning of the process that began with the "Change" initiative from within the Party immediately after the 2023 Presidential elections will gain clarity at the upcoming Congress. The CHP has a political responsibility and a historical duty to create a progressive, radically democratic, and decisive breakthrough in the coming period to restore the atmosphere of trust and hope that society expects. For this, it needs vibrant, energetic, qualified, and, above all, faithful cadres and an organization. The Congress is gathering to create the "handbook" for this restructuring.

The Charter to be produced by this Congress must first provide a clear, net, and unequivocal answer to the question of who owns the CHP. Methodologically, once the true owner of the Party is determined as the first step, building and organizing other issues around this "center" will make it possible to create a more meaningful and sustainable structure.

In this context;

The undisputed owner of a party like the CHP—which organized the political movement of the National Struggle, enabled the transition to a multi-party democratic life in Turkey, and claims to be progressive and social democratic—is the "Member." Based on this, the Charter is expected to introduce regulations that strengthen party membership, aiming not for a quantitative membership structure, but for members to serve as qualified party members.

Mechanisms should be envisioned that demonstrate the weight of the member and facilitate their operation as a responsible and active party member in this position. Practices where members have a direct say in all party activities, from determining managers at every level in local governments to the selection of the Chairman, must be established as a rule in the Charter. Therefore, a structure from the grassroots to the top, starting with the Member, should be accepted as the backbone of the Charter work.

As a result of defining membership at a level of importance, the Party structure should be reorganized based on the "Ballot Box Principle." It is a fact that the current arrangement, where ballot boxes are brought to the agenda only through assignments from election to election due to security concerns, has significant flaws. On the other hand, the presence of high-quality party members at every ballot box will not only significantly resolve the issue of ballot box security in the relevant region but, more importantly, will also be effective in terms of political representation and the continuity of contact with voters in that ballot box region.

In the Charter work, it would be appropriate to regulate the primary election process for determining party officials in a way that is unchangeable and cannot be made conditional, except for some limited exceptions. An important condition for a structure shaped from the grassroots to the top based on the ballot box principle to continue its existence without disruption or wavering is that party members have a direct, pure, and unadulterated say in determining the members who will take office at the local and national levels of the party.

Yes, organizing environments where all members show their tendencies and will in determining the Chairman of the Republican People's Party is a critical issue for the Charter work. Provided that the provisions of the Law on Political Parties are reserved, Chairmen in the CHP should be able to be determined through properly organized preference polls with the participation of all members. Thus, Congresses will not only be events focused on the election of specific individuals to specific positions in the party, but also events where the Party's policies and practices form the primary agenda.

Naturally, a business model established with the best intentions will only yield meaningful results in practice in the hands of people who adopt this model and act with faith in the goals intended in this text. It is possible for the Charter text to be presented as a durable and effective guide through the self-confident and far-sighted approaches of the party members who contribute to the Charter work at various levels and the managers and delegation who will give this work its final form at the Congress.

Regarding the upcoming Charter Congress, a study concluded by the Social Thought Institute in July 2024 identified views and proposals regarding 85 articles under 7 main headings. (http://www.toplumcudusunceenstitusu.org) If this and similar studies are taken into account, it seems possible to conclude the work carried out on the new charter with a very rich and effective structure. With this work, the CHP is at a point where it can show that it is different from other politics and political cadres, and keep the hope of a real transformation alive for society.

Nebil İlseven