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Kemal KÄ±lÄ±Ã§daroÄŸlu re-elected as CHP chair

03 February 2018 21:50 (UTC +04:00)

Kemal KÄ±lÄ±çdaroÄŸlu was re-elected late on Feb. 3 as chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) with 790 votes at the party's 36th general congress, APA reports quoting NTV Turkey.

However, other candidate Muharrem Ä°nce received 447 votes in the election.

CHP delegates convened earlier on Feb. 3 to elect party’s new leader.

CHP leader KÄ±lÄ±çdaroÄŸlu was challenged by Yalova deputy Muharrem Ä°nce at the party’s 36th Ordinary Convention.

Ince had ran for the leadership against KÄ±lÄ±çdaroÄŸlu in the party's 2014 congress, in which 740 delegates voted for KÄ±lÄ±çdaroÄŸlu and 415 for Ince.

Earlier in the day, an argument broke out at noon hours in the congress as 49 delegates backed both KÄ±lÄ±çdaroÄŸlu and Ä°nce, putting Ince's nomination at risk.

Officials from CHP stated that KÄ±lÄ±çdaroÄŸlu wanted the 49 signatures counted for Ince as he criticized the nomination process during his speech at the congress.

Ä°nce said that the CHP administration is trying to undermine his support by the argument.

"I don't not want to multiple votes, I want to free will of the voters," Ä°nce said.

Former Istanbul Bar Association head Ümit Kocasakal and Ömer Faruk EminaÄŸaoÄŸlu, former head of the Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV), have also announced their candidacies for party chairmanship, but it is not certain whether they will be able to collect the required number of signatures.

At the convention, delegates will select on Feb. 4 the party’s new cadres including the Party Assembly.

“I hope our convention will take place in a calm manner. There are some candidates for the leadership but this process will be clarified tomorrow [on Feb. 3]. There could be some provocative acts to discredit our convention but we will never allow it,” CHP Deputy Chair Tekin Bingöl told reporters on Feb. 2, saying all who want to run for the party management will “enjoy the CHP’s well-established democratic culture."

“Elections will be finalized with the free will of our 1,266 delegates. This convention will pave the way for the CHP to run for government in the coming period,” Bingöl added.