November 13, 2015•Update: November 14, 2015
ANKARA
Tensions are simmering within Turkey's largest opposition party after MPs from several provinces declared their support for current leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Friday.
The move comes after senior opposition figures in the Republican People's Party (CHP) called for an extraordinary meeting following the party's defeat in the Nov. 1 general election, and one MP said he would challenge for the leadership.
Kilicdaroglu, an MP for Istanbul, has led the party since 2010.
MPs for Ankara, Eskisehir, Konya, Kayseri and Sivas made a joint statement through lawyers on Friday, saying: "We care about the devoted work to establish democracy within the party."
Although CHP member of parliament for Yalova, Muharrem Ince, and former CHP lawmaker Umut Oran have yet to publicly challenge for the leadership, they have signaled support for an emergency meeting.
Previously, Oran said in a statement: "I am ready to take any kind of duty and responsibility to make the CHP [govern] alone in power."
During a press conference at the Turkish parliament on Monday, Ince said: "A new team is needed [to govern the party]. The CHP has a credibility problem.
“A new administration of the CHP should be convincing and it should be able to take risks. A new administration has to have the skills for managing extraordinary conditions."
At a Sep. 2014 CHP congress, Ince unsuccessfully ran against Kilicdaroglu for the leadership.
Izmir MP Mustafa Balbay announced on Wednesday that he would challenge Kilicdaroglu to lead the party, saying: "I believe that we can take our party further...and it needs a new direction and method.
“In this respect, I am ready for the chairmanship at congress."
The CHP gained 25.32 percent of the vote (134 seats) in the snap election on Nov. 1.
During a press conference after preliminary results were released, Kilicdaroglu said: "Our vote increased. Our number of deputies also increased. But, we do not perceive ourselves as being successful ... The measure of the success is to come to power."
Kilicdaroglu was first elected as an Istanbul MP in 2002.
The CHP is expected to hold a congress in January. To be elected as party leader, a candidate must win an absolute majority from 1,218 delegates' votes.
