The CHP's first rally in Istanbul, April 11.Demotix/Avni Kantan. All rights reserved.On April 19, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) launched its election manifesto to a storm of applause; nonetheless the clapping is not appreciative. Under the ‘clapping as a nation’ slogan, CHP recently kicked off a negative campaign against the AK Party where clapping is used as a means of protest at the government’s performance over the last decade. Many found this direct targeting of the ruling AK Party, provocative and aggressive, running the risk of alienating voters. However, the campaign did have the required impact: people are talking about it, and it is backed up with some concrete policy proposals.
CHP’s chairman, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has announced his party’s four-pillar election manifesto: strengthening Turkey’s parliamentary democracy, building a social democrat economy, turning Turkey into a competitive economy and strengthening state institutions. Kilicdaroglu states that as the founding party of the Turkish Republic, which also transitioned the country to a multi-party system, CHP has a new role now: creating a first class democracy to serve as a model for the region. To do so, he pledges to strengthen the country’s democratic credentials, reinforce a separation of powers, bolster media and internet freedoms, reduce the 10% electoral threshold, and resolve the Kurdish issue through strengthening the cultural rights of the Kurdish population. Kilicdaroglu’s remarks on democracy were often interrupted with the shouting of slogans and genuine applause by the audience.
Competing for power
The enthusiasm for democracy itself shows the long way the party has come. Ironically, just a few years ago, CHP voters were the most resistant to the EU-related democratic reforms and freedoms carried out by AK Party government. Interestingly, the AK Party’s ending of the Kemalist supervisory regime pushed CHP towards defending and embracing democratic freedoms and rights. With no supervisory regime to rely on, CHP has begun to learn how to compete for power in Turkey’s political scene.
