ANKARA: Turkiye´s main opposition CHP re-elected its leader Ozgur Ozel at an extraordinary congress on Sunday as the party fights off a barrage of what critics say are politically-motivated legal challenges.
The move comes as the Republican People´s Party (CHP), seeks to shore up its leadership as opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have faced a series of lawsuits and arrests.
Among them is a potentially damaging lawsuit seeking to oust Ozel, which had its second hearing on Monday. It seeks to overturn the result of CHP´s November 2023 congress which elected Ozel, on grounds of alleged vote rigging.
At Sunday´s 22nd extraordinary congress in the capital Ankara, delegates overwhelmingly re-elected Ozel who won all 835 valid votes cast. Another 82 were ruled invalid. Ozel´s re-election is expected to invalidate the legal grounds for the lawsuit against the party.
“The party is under attack, and they are trying every possible method,” he said after the vote, in remarks reported by Turkish media.
“Our legal experts and administrators are taking the most appropriate measures against this. With the holding of this congress, all their (legal) arguments are eliminated.”
As well as the vote, which Ozel has described as “an entirely technical and legal manoeuvre” to protect the party´s leadership, the CHP also met to forge a strategy going forward in the face of mounting obstacles.
