Özel allies resign from key CHP body over convention demand
Lawmakers aligned with ousted main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel resigned from a key committee in an effort to force the reinstated administration to call an extraordinary congress.
In a coordinated move, 28 members of the CHP’s Party Assembly resigned shortly before a meeting chaired by restored leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, reducing the body to 29 members.
The Özel-aligned faction argued the resignations pushed the board below a two-thirds threshold required under party rules, saying this triggered an obligation to convene an extraordinary convention within 45 days. They further claimed both the Party Assembly and the central executive board had effectively “collapsed.”
“Not convening a convention after this would be a crime,” lawmaker Zeynel Emre said in remarks in parliament following the resignations.
