Turkish Opposition Star’s Frustration Risks Helping Erdogan

Muharrem Ince, a senior name in Turkey's main opposition social democratic Republican People's Party, CHP, did well as his party's presidential candidate in 2018 against Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He lost the election in the first round but created a new energy in the opposition ranks after polling a respectable 31 per cent of the votes.

After scoring so strongly in the election, and not hiding his ambition to run for a second time for the presidency, as well as for the CHP leadership, Ince has now announced he is launching his own a political movement - that may on day evolve into a party.

"I'm starting a journey to increase 31 per cent to 51 per cent," Ince declared on August 8.

His decision came after the CHP general assembly re-elected current leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu for another term. Kilicdaroglu also reshaped his cabinet following the internal election, sidelining Ince and his followers from the leadership.

Even though Ince's subsequent decision was not unexpected, experts and former comrades in the CHP warn that the popular politician's move will likely harm the opposition in future elections.

"Ince is an important opposition political figure. He was the most popular politician from the CHP until the local elections in 2019," pointed out Nezih Onur Kuru, a political scientist at Koc University in Istanbul.

Kuru also agreed that Ince's new movement would undermine the opposition's unity and chances of winning the next elections against Erdogan.

Ambitious man with eye on high officeSupporters of Muharrem Ince, Presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), cheer during an election campaign rally, in Istanbul, Turkey, 23 June 2018. Photo:...