23.05.2026 15:10
At the meeting held at the CHP Headquarters with the participation of deputies, Özgür Özel was re-elected as the TBMM Group Chair. However, with this step, the question 'Was it mandatory?' has come to the fore in party corridors and legal circles.
Analysis | Şerife Güzel, Haberler.com Ankara Representative
With the absolute nullity decision, the complete return of the party administration to the period before November 4-5 has raised the question of what will happen to the duties in the parliamentary group.
ÖZEL WAS ALREADY THE GROUP CHAIRPERSON
If the leader of a political party is a member of parliament, the leader automatically becomes the party's parliamentary group chairperson. However, if the leader is not a member of parliament, then an election is held in the group for another person to assume the group chairperson role.
Özgür Özel was elected as group chairperson by the CHP Group in the 2023 elections because Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was not a member of parliament. Therefore, legal experts argue that Özel, whose leadership ended with the absolute nullity decision, automatically returns to the group chairperson position. It is stated that Özel was already the group chairperson, and thus there is no legal need for a new election.
However, after becoming the leader, Özgür Özel held an election regarding the group chairperson role, which he automatically assumed, to leave no room for a move by Kıldaroğlu.
A POLITICAL MOVE RATHER THAN A LEGAL ONE
According to insider sources, the election held for Özel is said to be more of a political show of force than a legal necessity.
It is reported that Özel called for the vote to emphasize the support of the members of parliament and to send the message that the parliamentary group stands behind him.
ÖZEL DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE A VACUUM
Özgür Özel had automatically taken on the group chairperson role after becoming the leader. It is also discussed that this election was conducted to prevent a vacancy in the group chairperson role after his leadership ended. It is believed that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu could have chosen a name from his own team as group chairperson in Özel's place. Within the party, it is said that Özgür Özel made this move to prevent that opportunity.
CAN A MEETING OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT BE CONSIDERED A GROUP MEETING?
On the other hand, since party groups are meetings held in Parliament, whether a meeting held outside Parliament can be officially considered a group meeting raises another issue of debate.
Therefore, whether Leader Kılıçdaroğlu will accept this election is also a matter of curiosity. The CHP group also needs to elect deputy group chairpersons and report them to the presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Deputy Group Chairpersons Ali Mahir Başarır and Gökhan Günaydın also have to choose between being members of the party council and deputy group chairpersons.
Başarır and Günaydın, who were members of the party council before November 4, were the individuals elected as deputy group chairpersons after Özgür Özel became the leader.
RESULT OF THE SIX-PARTY TABLE MOVE
The decision of the six-party table during the 2023 election process that "party leaders should not be parliamentary candidates" has become a topic of debate again with recent developments in the CHP.
According to the strategy of the time, opposition leaders were planned to serve as Vice Presidents after the election, so many party leaders were not made parliamentary candidates.
After the elections were lost, the opposition leaders remained outside the Turkish Grand National Assembly and lost the opportunity to chair their parties' parliamentary groups.
With Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu returning to the party leadership by a court decision in the CHP, this situation has come to the forefront again. The political consequences of the six-party table's choice during the election period have also begun to be debated anew.