Internal conflict lingers in the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) after last month’s court verdict for absolute nullification that reinstated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the party chair. The ousted leader Özgür Özel and his supporters resist Kılıçdaroğlu’s reign amid rumors of an ultimate split between two camps.
Kılıçdaroğlu and Özel recently came at odds over who will make traditional parliamentary group speech and finally settled to have separate speeches, Özel at the parliament (as parliamentary group chair of the party) and Kılıçdaroğlu at the CHP headquarters. This time, the Özel camp plans to obstruct Kılıçdaroğlu’s attempt to speak at the parliament on Tuesday. The party spokesman Müslim Sarı has announced last week that the reinstated leader would take the pulpit at the parliament on Tuesday while Kılıçdaroğlu sent letters to all lawmakers urging “unity.” Kılıçdaroğlu formally applied to the presidency of the parliament to make his speech but Özel vowed not to allow it. Özel told a newspaper last week that the parliamentary group meeting can only be held if party’s administrative board unanimously approve it or one fifth of the CHP lawmakers consent. The administrative board is dominated by pro-Kılıçdaroğlu figures but majority of CHP lawmakers are sided with Özel.
