Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel’s remarks of “We will never compromise respect for authority” were headlined in the pro-government daily Sabah immediately after the local election success. His remarks brought a new attitude at the opening of the new legislative term of the parliament.
The CHP group welcomed President and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan standing up. Özel was the first to stand up when Erdoğan entered the General Assembly, saying, “We had said that we would not skimp on respect for the office. In accordance with the President's oath, when he arrived, we welcomed him standing up, hoping that he would make a speech in accordance with it.”
This change in the CHP leadership's attitude was controversial. Around 50-60 deputies did not attend the General Assembly. It was claimed that some of the absent deputies had an excuse, but most of them did not take part in the session because they criticized the decision.
This change divided the CHP's parliamentary group into two. The main criticism of the deputies who criticized the decision was, “With the new system, the President has become a party member. We do not have an impartial president, we have a party leader. We were not standing up in reaction to this freakish one-man system” and asked, ”What has changed now that this decision has been taken?”
One of the deputies said, “What we have come to as normalization is in danger of normalizing the regime. There is no change in the situation, which is one of our main criticisms of the system.”
Although the decision to greet the President standing up was in line with Özel's “respect for the office,” there were also deputies who objected to the way the process was managed. Accordingly, Özel took the decision the day before the session. However, the decision was not shared with the entire CHP administration. It was conveyed to the parliamentary group via text message three hours before the opening.
“The decision of Özel, who said 'there is no compromise in respecting the office', to stand up may be right, but there is a problem in the management of the process,” some party members said, adding that ”it was not difficult to inform ourselves early and make a quick evaluation.”
According to CHP executives, the decision was taken in an effort to influence the 18-20 percent undecided voters. They said that they had received votes from the AKP and MHP voters in the local elections and that these steps were taken today to appeal to the undecided voters. “There are some of our party members who are angry about these steps. However, we are getting a positive reaction from the undecided voters, most of whom are AKP voters. Of course, we will work to get votes from large segments, but we should not have a consolidation problem in our own base. When citizens leave the AKP, they get angry at Erdoğan and hold him responsible. Let's not insult him, let's not say bad words, but let's not flatter him either. We need to conduct a balanced politics.”
So much so that some politicians within the CHP warned the potential of losing their own electorate in this effort.
Since the local elections, the CHP has been 3-4 points above the AKP even in the worst polls. This is evidence that the CHP is on the right track. According to AKP members, the CHP is following the right strategy with these steps. Some AKP deputies said, “CHP's steps are important at a time when we need unity and integrity the most” in light of President Erdoğan's words “We need to strengthen the domestic front.”
An AKP deputy said, “The steps taken by the CHP will be positive for itself. If you want to get votes from AKP voters, you can't get them by reacting to their leader, saying harsh words and swearing.”
There are some within the AKP who take the CHP's decision with humor. One deputy said, “We became AK Party when we were AKP. Today they showed respect and stood up. Next year, they will stand up and applaud at the same time.”
An AKP executive, who considered the CHP's decision as a surprise, said, “We need to watch them for a while. It is important how they will continue from now on. The state is the apple of all our eyes. From that point of view, the attitude of respect for the office is important, but when we look at the statements afterwards, we should say, 'The attitude is right and the explanation is wrong'. CHP leader Özel, while explaining their stance, says 'we are doing what is necessary to respect the office, the Justice and Development Party will show the same courtesy when a president from the Republican People's Party is elected'. Don't these words mean that we have been showing disrespect and lack of courtesy until today?”