Polls push leadership changes for Turkish opposition parties

A good selection of candidates, including new faces with clean records, worked to the advantage of the opposition parties, but also proved their current leaders’ inability to gain power.
  �
While the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, lost more than 8 percentage points over its vote totals in the 2007 general elections, the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, increased its votes by 3 points. The Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, gained 2.5 points. When these figures are compared with the 2004 local elections, the success of the opposition becomes even clearer. But the voting increases cannot hide these parties’ real problems.
  �
One of the shining stars of the March election was Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the CHP’s Istanbul deputy, who ran for the city’s mayoral seat. In an outstanding performance, he increased his party’s votes in Istanbul by nearly 15 points, proving his ability to lead the CHP in the next general elections. The current leader of the party, Deniz Baykal, a veteran politician whose leadership has long been criticized, was not thinking of leaving his seat before the elections, but Kilicdaroglu’s success has endangered his position. “He may become the leader of the party if our party’s boards elect him. But we have no such issue at the moment,” Baykal told reporters after the election.
  �
But Baykal, in an effort to boost the CHP’s momentum, changed the party’s administrative scheme and promoted Kilicdaroglu to membership in the top decision-making unit. According to sources, Baykal considers Kilicdaroglu a potential leader and wanted to reward his Istanbul success. Known for his unpretentious character, Kilicdaroglu is unlikely to challenge his leader, but Baykal’s critics will likely try to benefit from this situation.

Another term for Bahceli?
The MHP also boosted its votes in the local elections, with the party’s candidates in Adana, Manisa and some other cities winning against the ruling party. In Ankara, MHP’s Mansur Yavas performed well, raising his party’s votes by nearly 15 points. Yavas is known for his silent opposition to Bahceli, whose leadership is also being debated among the nationalists. He is challenged by Koray Aydin, a senior party figure who argued that Bahceli would be ineligible to run for leadership of the MHP during the general convention that will take place Oct. 12 because party regulations do not allow more than five terms at the top post.

Aydin’s assertions created anger within the party ranks. “What he said has nothing to do with our chairman. There is not any legal problem,” Oktay Vural, a senior MHP official, said Wednesday. But voices within the party are sure to continue trying to stop Bahceli from continuing for another term.

DSP, DP to elect new leaders
With Zeki Sezer, leader of the Democratic Left Party, or DSP, already announcing that he will resign this weekend, the party brass has started to ponder new potential leaders. Yilmaz Buyukersen, the mayor of Eskisehir for the last three terms, is seen as being among them. He did not rule the possibility but added that he had not yet made up his mind on the issue. Some other names mentioned for the leadership post are Tayyibe Gulek and Suleyman Yagiz.

The Democrat Party, or DP, is also in the midst of a search for a new leader as the current party head, Suleyman Soylu, has announced his resignation, too. The DP received 3.87 percent of the votes and won the municipality of Yalova in the local elections.