Ankara. While the campaign of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the joint candidate of the Nation Alliance in the presidential election on 14 May, is expected to focus on “Turkey under the influence of earthquakes and economic destruction”, preparations for the CHP’s proxy list are also starting.
CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) made an assessment of the situation regarding the days to come, after Kılıçdaroğlu was declared the joint Presidential candidate of the Nation Alliance as of March 6, at its meeting yesterday.
Had it not been for the trouble on Thursday, March 2, at the meeting of the six leaders of the Nation Alliance, Kılıçdaroğlu’s first address was Kahramanmaraş after he was declared a candidate the next day. As a presidential candidate, it was envisaged to start the process of meeting with the public in the earthquake zone during the election process, and this approach was not abandoned.
As a presidential candidate, Kılıçdaroğlu’s first address in the disaster area, where he has been frequently since 6 February, will be Malatya. Here, hosted by CHP Deputy Chairman and Malatya Deputy Veli Ağbaba, he will meet with earthquake victims and receive information about the latest situation regarding the problems in the city. The next day, hosted by CHP Deputy Chairman and Kahramanmaraş Deputy Ali Öztunç, he will examine the latest situation in Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the first earthquake.
During these visits, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality (ABB) Mayor Mansur Yavaş, who was announced to be appointed to the Vice Presidency “at the appropriate time after the election” as a result of the negotiations with the IYI Party, will accompany him.
Within the scope of CHP’s task sharing between municipalities in the earthquake process; Ankara Metropolitan Municipality carries out studies mainly in Malatya and Kahramanmaraş. In this context; It was stated that Kılıçdaroğlu could visit Hatay with the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), Ekrem İmamoğlu. However, details of this were not provided.
It is also being evaluated whether joint city visits and public meetings will be held with the leaders of the Nation Alliance, such as Afyonkarahisar’s visit with Democratic Party leader Gültekin Uysal and Konya’s Future Party Leader Ahmet Davutoğlu. It has been learned that no final decision has been made on this issue and that it will be evaluated through negotiations between the six parties.
Working with Ali Kiremitçioğlu will continue
According to the information obtained by VOA Turkish, at the CHP VQA meeting yesterday, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s presidential candidacy during the election process and the promotion planning in terms of the increase in the vote rate in the CHP’s parliamentary election were also discussed.
At the meeting, it was confirmed that working with Ali Kiremitçioğlu, the managing partner of the communication agency The Sales Machine, will continue. Kiremitçioğlu, who is also an independent board member of PC Communications and Media Services Company, worked with the then Prime Minister and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by taking part in Turkey’s candidacy race campaign for the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2013. In the field of international advertising, Kiremitçioğlu’s name has been mentioned in the communication strategy of the CHP in recent years.
It was also noted that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s home, in his kitchen, with his wife Selvi Kılıçdaroğlu, will be working on the campaign with ÇokNet Media, which is the founder of Özgür Yici, who emphasized that he contributed to his video sharing. Previously, ÇokNet Media’s contribution to the “kitchen shoot” was announced to the public with the tweet of CHP Media and Corporate Communications Chief Advisor Tuncay Özkan, who said “together with the party workers” in May 2021.
It has been learned that CHP will also work with Ottogonale, whose headquarters is in Ankara and which is emphasized on its website as a “brand consultancy agency”. Among Ottogonale’s advertising works, the “Ramadan-themed video of unification instead of social polarization” for the Cola Cola beverage brand draws attention.
It seems that the 13th floor will play a role in the party headquarters during the CHP’s election campaign, and it was emphasized that CHP Chairman (Istanbul Deputy) Erdoğan Toprak will be active in the works in terms of cities to be visited and rallies.
Preliminary study for the list of deputy candidacy in CHP
The CHP management also evaluated the joint list preparations with the Nation Alliance on May 14, when Turkey will be at the ballot box at the earliest.
It was discussed that the Electoral Alliance Commission could hold its fifth meeting next week for the preparations for the parliamentary elections among the six political parties, and therefore the preparations of the CHP for its own parliamentary candidates. In this context, it has been decided that the Party Assembly (PM) will convene on Sunday, March 12, and that Kılıçdaroğlu will be authorized to determine the candidate list for the deputy from the PM in accordance with the CHP statute.
Therefore, the CHP will create a list of candidates for the upcoming elections, with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu being the final judge, without a preliminary election race.
Kılıçdaroğlu will finalize the list through the evaluation file regarding the CHP candidates within the party, after the work on which provinces will form a joint list and in which provinces a separate list of deputy candidates will be created within the scope of the Nation Alliance. For this, it was noted that a working group was formed on the proxy list within the CHP VQA with the instruction of Kılıçdaroğlu.
In the meantime, in line with Kılıçdaroğlu’s instruction, a more narrow working group meeting was held after VQA.