Candidate warning to CHP from Aytuğ Atıcı: It is not too late for CHP yet

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel had promised party members that he would hold 'primary elections' during the congress process. Despite Özel's promise, candidates in many electoral districts are being determined through appointments made at Party Assembly meetings. There is talk within the party that Özel should keep his promise of primary elections. One of those voices is former CHP MP Aytuğ Atıcı. In his article titled "It is not too late for CHP yet," Atıcı issued warnings and criticisms regarding the candidate selection method.-

Atıcı's article is as follows:

"The CHP management continues to determine the vast majority of mayoral candidates through 'appointment'. We have stated many times that this is not the right method for our party and that it does not satisfy our voters, especially our members, or other voters who might potentially vote for the CHP. Even if the candidates determined without relying on the will of the members are very good people, the backlash is growing every day.

The CHP must first value the opinions of its own members so that the voters who have voted for the CHP until today can also feel that they are valued. However, only after this stage can the chances of success increase when our members, who believe in and support the candidate they have determined themselves, go to the doors of other voters who might potentially vote for the CHP and ask for their votes. To seize this opportunity, it is necessary to increase the excitement of our members and voters and strengthen their sense of belonging to our party. It is not too late for this. Holding member-based primary elections or organization-supervised preference polls everywhere, especially in places where CHP candidates have not yet been announced and where the probability of winning is high, will largely eliminate the negative experiences encountered so far.

From this stage on, holding member-based primary elections or organization-supervised preference polls has become a necessity for the CHP's success in local elections, beyond just being a democratic approach. It is impossible for anyone involved in politics within the CHP not to notice this situation. I do not know how to explain the insistence on saying 'I know best' when the sensitivity is this high.

Determining not only mayoral candidates but also municipal and provincial council member candidates through member-based primary elections or organization-supervised preference polls will increase the CHP's chances of success. Furthermore, it has become a necessity for success to implement the method referred to as the 'zipper system' when determining municipal and provincial council member candidates, meaning that the ranking is organized as one female and one male candidate. Additionally, applying a youth quota for electable positions will be sufficient to bring our young people into the field with enthusiasm and ensure they can look to the future with hope.

In addition to these, when what I have described is done, our voters will witness that our Chairman has largely kept his word, and their trust in their leader will increase.

Compromises made for the sake of cooperating with other parties without doing what I have described above will make CHP members and voters even more troubled. An example of this was painfully experienced in the 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections.

It is not too late for CHP yet!

There are still things that can be done!

And it is possible to succeed!"

News Source: 12punto