Former CHP mayor files lawsuit to annul his party’s 2023 congress
Former Hatay Mayor Lütfü Savaş, from the main opposition CHP, has filed a lawsuit to annul his party’s 2023 congress which was recently called “shady” by President Erdoğan. The party’s previous leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu lost to Özgür Özel in the congress.
Duvar English
Lütfü Savaş, the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) former Hatay mayor, has filed a lawsuit to annul his party’s 2023 congress, according to a reporting from the pro-government daily Yenişafak.
Savaş claimed that the will of the delegates “had been violated” and demanded the dismissal of the party administration.
After losing to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 presidential election in May, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also lost the party leadership in the party congress held in November 2023. The “revisionist” candidate Özgür Özel won the congress after calls for a change within the party, initiated by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently called the party congress in question “shady,” claiming that Özgür Özel’s victory in the congress was controversial.
After Erdoğan’s remarks, Kılıçdaroğlu on Feb. 7 called on the CHP leadership to make a statement in response.
Two days later, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office called Kılıçdaroğlu to testify as a witness in the investigation which was already launched in January 2024.
Some deemed Erdoğan’s remarks and the investigation as the government’s attempt to stir the party and design the party leadership through the judiciary.
The moves came after the government’s pressure on the CHP and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has been increasing through judicial investigations. In response, the CHP has been preparing to hold a party primary and name İmamoğlu as the presidential candidate.
On the other hand, Lütfü Savaş was controversially re-named as the CHP’s Hatay mayoral candidate in the March 2024 local elections by the new CHP administration.
As Hatay was one of the most affected provinces by the major Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes, Savaş was accused of not preparing the city for the quakes during his two terms as the metropolitan Hatay mayor, and one term as the Antakya district mayor.
He lost to the ruling AKP’s candidate by a few thousand difference in the election.