Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the 7th chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), will appear before a judge on Friday, November 22nd at Ankara 57th Criminal Court of First Instance to testify in the lawsuit filed against him for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Kılıçdaroğlu faces up to 11 years and 8 months in prison and a political ban.
In a post on his Twitter account with the title “Let's tighten the ranks”, Kılıçdaroğlu said he would go to court to hold the government to account. Following Kılıçdaroğlu's speech, many party and non-party members expressed their support.
Kılıçdaroğlu's call for “Let's close ranks” is of course important. However, I believe that the opposition, and especially the CHP, needs to clarify their minds before tightening their ranks.
Because past experiences have shown that sometimes being side by side does not work very well unless heads are clear. Just yesterday, it was experienced that the people closest to you could turn against you at the first opportunity.
So, which issues should the CHP clarify?
- Fighting or negotiating with the government?
- Normalization with the government or reconciliation with the people?
- A strengthened parliamentary system or a reformed presidential system?
- Democratic leadership or strong leadership?
- Insistence on social democracy or a more centrist CHP?
- Social democratic solutions or market economy?
- Should the Gang of 5 discourse continue or should it be abandoned in order not to frighten the capital?
- Should accounts be held to account in a change of power, or should they be closed in order to avoid tensions?
- Pioneering peaceful solutions to the Kurdish problem or emphasizing security policies?
These headings can be increased. CHP is a mass party after all. There will certainly be different opinions and tendencies within it. However, I do not think it will be enough to give the appearance of unity in the squares without at least agreeing on certain basic issues. Organized communities with ideological and intellectual unity are always more effective than confused crowds.