Baykal announces he will not run as debate heats up over new CHP

As members of the Republican People's Party (CHP) feverishly finalize their preparations for this weekend's party congress, its ex-leader, Deniz Baykal, has broken his silence over whether he plans to return to the helm of the CHP.

 Baykal, who resigned last week over a scandalous video, released a written statement yesterday saying that he had no intention of running for chairman of the party.

    With Baykal apparently out of the picture, a new stage has begun within the CHP. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who has put his name forward as a candidate for Baykal's old post, and CHP Secretary-General Önder Sav will be fighting to get their own people into the party's administration at the CHP's 33rd Regular Party Congress, which begins in less than 24 hours. Individuals who do not hold administrative posts in the party who supported Kılıç-daroğlu and the party's 97 deputies are now expecting nominations.

Meanwhile, Sav, who changed the course of the CHP by supporting Kılıçdaroğlu, would like to see individuals closer to him in the party council.

On Wednesday, Baykal did not make any direct statements on Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy, but he did see some of his ex-allies yesterday. He reportedly said he was bitter about Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy, saying that Sav and Kılıçdaroğlu had not been honest about the process and that he had no idea that Kılıçdaroğlu would be running for party leadership. He also dismissed Kılıçdaroğlu’s proposal that Baykal could become the CHP’s honorary president if he wanted to as “empty talk.” Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu spent Wednesday and Thursday working on his congress speech and list of candidates for the party administration. He is planning to move İstanbul provincial head Gürsel Tekin to the party headquarters as a deputy chairman, sources said.

Baykal’s messages on Thursday were conveyed by CHP Deputy Chairman Cevdet Selvi, who visited Baykal at his Ankara home yesterday. Yılmaz Ateş and Mehmet Sevigen as well as a few deputies who supported Baykal’s return as leader also visited him.

According to Selvi, Baykal said he would have liked to have seen more honesty from Sav and Kılıçdaroğlu. He said the very individuals who had been opposed to Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy when he had suggested it were now unified in supporting him. “They should have shared this development [of Kılıçdaroğlu’s nomination] with me and the party administration.”

However, Kılıçdaroğlu was quick to respond on Thursday, saying his candidacy had not been kept a secret from anyone. He also denied claims that he and Sav had made a last minute deal, adding that the honorary president proposal was not his idea. He added that he respected and valued every criticism from Baykal.

Clash of candidate lists in CHP

The first serious test Kılıçdaroğlu will have to take during the process ahead will be the war of candidate lists in the congress. The main argument is whether ballots listing nominees should be formed as a single list to be voted on by the delegates or whether they should be formed as lists that can be revised by the delegates by crossing out names they do not wish to vote for and adding new ones. In the second version, any candidate can be nominated by a delegate. In the first version, leader nominees offer their own lists of 80 nominees for the Party Council. This kind of ballot, called a block ballot in Turkish, has been the method of voting under Baykal since 2003, effectively preventing any person from entering the Party Council that the leader does not endorse. In the next congress, Sav is pushing for a block ballot closed to revisions by delegates. However, Kılıçdaroğlu would like to see the revisable ballots in the new period. The current CHP bylaws call for block ballots.

Apart from that, Kılıçdaroğlu plans to move İstanbul CHP branch leader Tekin to the party headquarters. Tekin, who played a critical role in convincing heads of the party’s other provincial branches to back Kılıçdaroğlu’s candidacy, is also expected to be elected to the Party Council.

Meanwhile, sources claim that individuals close to Baykal, such as Savcı Sayan, Mesut Değer, Yılmaz Ateş and Onur Öymen, are likely to be eliminated in the new party administration that will be formed in this weekend’s congress. Sevigen, the party’s İstanbul deputy and a Baykal supporter, might also be removed from the party administration. Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to ask Sav to work with Faik Öztrak in the Central Executive Committee. Haluk Koç is likely to be appointed as the deputy chairman to replace Kılıçdaroğlu.