Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said that a number of CHP lawmakers can quit and join the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) and Future Party to secure their run in elections.
Kılıçdaroğlu was commenting on the debate on early elections, which has been ongoing for months in the country, with the regular parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled to be held in 2023.
“We can definitely provide support to DEVA and the Future Party for democracy. That’s why we want the election threshold removed. All parties must be represented in parliament,” Kılıçdaroğlu told daily Yeniçağ on May 14, referring to the 10 percent election threshold that’s required to enter parliament.
Both the Future and DEVA parties are relatively new, with the former found in December 2019 by former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and the latter in March by former deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.
The CHP adopted a similar stance before the presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, 2018 by making 15 of its deputies quit the party and join the right-wing İYİ (Good) Party.