The Republican People's Party re -elected Ozal as president at an emergency meeting

Members of Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) re-elected "Özgür Özal" as the party president during the 21st emergency congress held today, Sunday.

Özal received 1,171 votes out of 1,323 votes cast by party delegates, while 105 votes were invalid.

Özal competed against the mayor of Muratpaşa district in Antalya, Ümit Uysal, and the former party MP, Burhan Şimşek, who both announced their candidacies for the party presidency.

Uysal withdrew his candidacy this morning, citing a desire to maintain party unity, while Şimşek missed the deadline to submit his candidacy, which disqualified him from running.

This left Özal as the only candidate for the party presidency. The party's secretary-general, Bulent Nuri Cavusoglu, reported that the candidacy process started at 10:20 and ended at 10:50, with Özal being the only eligible candidate who applied during that period.

The CHP, Turkey's largest opposition party, decided to hold the emergency congress under Article 48 of its internal regulations after Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and other officials were arrested on March 19 on corruption-related charges.

The party took this step to ensure the congress's legitimacy and prevent any potential legal action that might lead to a court-appointed trustee for the party.

The congress took place in Ankara with 1,368 delegates in attendance, who, in addition to electing the party leader, would choose 60 members of the party council, 15 members of the disciplinary board, and their substitutes. Özal received 1,171 votes from the 1,276 delegates eligible to vote.

During the opening session, a message from İmamoğlu, sent from prison, was read to the attendees. In the message, İmamoğlu said: "The congress is being held urgently for many reasons at a time of urgency. Our people are under heavy siege from a repressive government that openly declares it does not adhere to the law and democracy and sees itself as the owner of the state."

He added, "This government does not want a rival candidate or party. It does not want free and fair elections. Their only interest is maintaining a one-man system that is dragging the country toward disaster in every field—from the economy to health, from education to justice."

Meanwhile, Özgür Özal, the party leader, gave a speech attacking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and called for early elections.

Özal said: "This congress is a response to those who try to contaminate the party’s will. We are here because we are resisting the civil coup against the next president and for Atatürk's party, to neutralize any efforts to appoint a trustee, and to stand firm against this scheme with nearly 1.9 million members."

He continued, "The CHP was the leading party in the elections that took place last year."

It’s worth noting that İmamoğlu was arrested on March 19 for investigation into two cases: one involving corruption, bribery, and favoritism, and the other involving terrorism.