31.05.2024 17:30
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, reminding the upcoming elections in 2028, said, "If I cannot make CHP the ruling party, I will come up here and resign that night, and I will quit politics that day." Özel also announced that they will organize a labor and worker rally in the near future.
CHP Leader Özgür Özel stated, "Now the election is over. The next regular election will be in 2028 as we said. If our people want an early election, it can happen. But we are not in an election period right now. If I cannot make CHP the ruling party, I will resign and quit politics that night," he said.
"BAHÇELİ ALSO AGREED ON PENSIONERS"
Özel answered journalist İsmail Küçükkaya's questions on Halk TV's "Yeni Bir Sabah Programı". Making statements about the agenda, Özel emphasized the problems of pensioners and low-income earners, saying, "Increase the pension from 10 thousand liras to 17 thousand liras, the ruling party will benefit the most from this. But there is a moral aspect to this. " Özel stated that he also talked to MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli about the problems of pensioners. Here are the highlights from Özel's statements:
"I talked and said, Mr. Chairman, this is an issue that you also show sensitivity to. He agreed. I said let's talk to everyone about this issue. Let everyone talk to everyone, let's solve this problem in the Parliament. We really need to do something for pensioners. Now the election is over. The next regular election will be in 2028 as we said. If I say this now, I don't have a chance to win the election tomorrow. We really need to talk about this not politically, but morally and ethically. Everyone in Turkey should look at the issue like this. Moreover, think about it this way. Some people think that we say this to get votes. On the contrary, think like this. When a retiree is forced to live on 10 thousand liras and tries to survive with 17 thousand liras in a city like Istanbul, the reaction of that retiree, that worker towards the government increases. If a raise is given today, the ruling party will relax. Let me tell you."
"THE RULING PARTY BENEFITS THE MOST FROM PENSION INCREASE"
If you increase the pension from 10 thousand liras to 17 thousand liras today, the ruling party will benefit the most from this. But there is a moral aspect to this. I will say this for the first time. Retiree rally. I was on stage at the rally. Those were the most exciting parts of our speech at the rally, but my speech was frequently interrupted by applause. I had the opportunity to look down at the square from above. I saw the entrances, the exits. I saw the surroundings while the five retiree associations were speaking. Yes, they were old, but they were very poor. I was so saddened. We got on a minibus. My mood changed. I said to the friends next to me, do you see the people around you? Not only the elderly, not only the retirees. The poor.
"PENSION SHOULD NOT BE BELOW THE MINIMUM WAGE"
I announced it as our first election promise. Let me repeat it here. "The pension should not be below the minimum wage." We will put a clause like this in the legal regulation. Just as there is a minimum wage regulation for workers in Turkey, including the state. Private or state. No pension fund can stay below the minimum wage in the payments it will make, we will say. That's it. The minimum pension will not be recalculated. Is the minimum wage 17 thousand 2 liras today? It cannot fall below this. The state will also make that payment.
A man is running a grocery store on the corner. He employs one person. If he pays 15 thousand liras, the state comes down hard on him. Why didn't you pay 17 thousand liras? He says, can you live with 15 thousand? There is a lower limit to this, he says. The state does not do this to its retirees. This is a difficulty, but of course, this immediately leads to a debate. Erdogan said, in order to make 17 thousand liras, 680 billion liras are needed. Let me give you a standard answer here. That money is there.
"666 BILLION TAXES WERE FORGIVEN"
Last year, the total tax forgiven by Erdogan, from public contractors, those who build highways, the big ones, not small shopkeepers. They forgave 666 billion liras of the tax that had been finalized and was due to be paid. Why? Under the name of incentives. Once again, that money is there. This is a choice. Today's government gave that money to rich contractors. So that they can overcome the crisis. If it were me, I would give it to the retirees. This is something that can be said in opposition language. The money is here today. Give it here. But the real question is this. Why wouldn't Erdogan want to give a raise to pensioners when the country is going to the election right now? Because the economy of the last election put the country in a big crisis. There is no money. He couldn't do it. Now I'm telling you the formula for doing it. What will happen in CHP rule? There will be a fair tax system from top to bottom in CHP rule. There will be a tax reform, a revolution. "
ERDOĞAN'S RETURN VISIT
Özel, regarding President Erdoğan's return visit, said, "The meeting is one-on-one, between President Erdoğan and me. But I think Mr. Namık Tan will accompany us in the delegations. There will be a diplomat or an appropriate assistant who will take notes, but the main meeting is between us, of course. This is the right way. We do not plan to have meetings with large delegations. It will be in the same format."
TRANSPORTATION MINISTER Uraloğlu's TRIP TO GERMANY WITH A PRIVATE JET: HE SHOULD RESIGN
Özel, regarding Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu's trip to Germany with a private jet owned by Rönesans Holding, said, "This is a scandal. Normally, he should resign when this comes to light in any average democracy in any country. His statement is also scandalous. He says, 'I boarded this plane for this reason, it is in the contract of the tender' he says. Now, they put it in the contract of the tender that if such a trip is necessary, this company will cover the transportation with a private jet, allocate it. Where did they write this? In the contract. By offering you the tender, does the offer include this cost? Yes. When you use that plane, the company has already received it from the state. This is a scandal. and putting this in the contract of a private company shows that they see it as a planned and integral part of the process," he said.
"WE WILL ORGANIZE A LABOR AND WORKER RALLY"
We will organize a labor and worker rally. Labor has major problems. First of all, there is a problem of justice in terms of taxes, meaning that salaries go down due to taxes within months. Secondly, there are problems with the limitation of trade union rights, effective court decisions cannot be taken against the dismissal of unionized workers, and the ones that are taken are not implemented, they are spread over time. In other words, there are problems related to organization.
The minimum wage has a major problem. Last year at this time, we were discussing four wage increases for the minimum wage. They said they would do it twice a year, but now it's July and they don't intend to do it. It is not acceptable for the minimum wage not to be increased. If they refuse to increase the minimum wage, we will do it at the beginning of July or right after the holiday. The location is not yet certain, but I would like to do it in a labor city like Kocaeli, Bursa, Gaziantep, Denizli, Manisa, etc.
"IF I CAN'T MAKE CHP THE RULING PARTY, I WILL RESIGN AND QUIT POLITICS"
Talking about candidates the day after the election is something that will upset potential candidates, put existing candidates in a different mindset, and unnecessarily occupy the people. I've had enough, there is a strange mentality that wants to repeat this mistake from the previous election. The discussion about candidates always comes up. I told my friends. Whether questions come or not, I have no intention of being a presidential candidate. I have one intention, if I said that Atatürk's party, the Republican People's Party, is the first party in the first general election of the second century of the Republic, then I have achieved my greatest goal. I don't want anything for myself. My goal is to make CHP the ruling party in these elections, to make a CHP member the President of this country, and to put this country on the path that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has bequeathed. If I can't make CHP the ruling party, I will come up here that night and resign, and quit politics that day."
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