The leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) will start, this week, consultation meetings both within the party and with nongovernmental organizations to hear proposals and to find out what qualities most Turkish citizens are looking for in a presidential candidate.
Gürsel Tekin, newly appointed secretary-general of the CHP, said the party's leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, would have talks with representatives of professional chambers, labor unions and major nongovernmental organizations and ask them what they would like to see in a presidential candidate.
Emphasizing that the upcoming talks will not be centered on specific names, Tekin told Today's Zaman: “In these visits, we will not be talking about the names [of potential candidates], but the qualities of the president. Turkey needs and all-encompassing president,” he added.
In a meeting to be held on Wednesday with deputies of the party, the CHP leader will take the lawmakers' pulse on potential presidential candidates.
“We will get together on Wednesday with our deputies to consult with them about our presidential candidate,” Engin Altay, parliamentary group deputy chairman of the CHP, has told Today's Zaman.
CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to ask deputies whom they would like to see run for president on the CHP ticket and listen to their proposals for the upcoming presidential election.
The CHP leader also plans to meet, in the process, with the party's mayors, the Anka news agency said, before coming up with the party's nominee for the Aug. 10 presidential election. For the first time in Turkey, the president will be elected by popular vote, and the CHP and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) are considering joining forces in an effort to stop Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from becoming president.
Kılıçdaroğlu and party leaders will draw up a schedule for the consultation meetings. Deputies of the main opposition party will contact business organizations in their home provinces to find out what they want in a presidential candidate.
Kılıçdaroğlu had planned to launch the party's consultations last week, but pushed back the meetings after a disastrous accident in a Soma coal mine killed more than 300 people, according to official figures.
The two largest opposition parties in Parliament, the CHP and MHP, are considering nominating a joint candidate in the presidential elections to boost their chances against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which is almost certainly going to run Erdoğan. The opposition parties argue he lacks the necessary qualities to serve as president.
Both opposition parties have underlined so far, without naming any names, that a presidential candidate should have an inclusive attitude toward all segments of society.
“Our profile [for a candidate] is that he [or she] should be a well-liked person. This is what we should discuss. We do not insist that our candidate be selected [if a joint candidacy is agreed on],” the CHP leader said earlier in May when asked about the possibility of his party and the MHP running a joint candidate. MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli had previously suggested that a joint candidate could win over a majority of voters, ensuring a win for the opposition in the presidential election.
Judging by the latest statements from party officials, the CHP seems less keen than the MHP on the idea of nominating a joint candidate, though this apparent reluctance may be part of a negotiating strategy.
“We are not carrying out a discussion [on the presidential race] based on a joint candidate, but what we are saying is this: Turkey needs a president who will decrease the tension in [domestic] politics, embrace everyone, protect rule of law, justice and the checks and balances in the state,” CHP Deputy Chairman Bülent Tezcan has told Today's Zaman.
“People expect a president not to be engaged in partisan politics and to have an all-embracing attitude,” Tezcan added.
The CHP and MHP may already be engaged in unofficial talks over a joint candidate in the presidential race, but Tezcan denied the existence of any formal talks. “There are currently no formal, planned talks ongoing [between the MHP and CHP]. But [contacts for] an exchange of opinions could be made with all political parties,” Tezcan said.
The CHP and MHP are vehemently opposed to the prime minister running for president, whom they harshly criticize for his dismissive discourse toward those who do not vote for the ruling party. Erdoğan has a considerable advantage, which would be strengthened if he gets the support of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
As the president represents the unity of the nation, the two opposition parties argue, Erdoğan's divisive politics disqualify him from the post. The two parties also oppose Erdoğan's candidacy due to allegations of corruption that surfaced after a graft probe went public in December last year.
Source/Fuente: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-348202-chp-to-start-dialogue-on-candidat...
