The National Unity Party held a ‘candidate selection’ convention on Saturday.
Nearly 9,000 party members cast their votes.
This turnout amounts to approximately one-third of the party’s membership.
The fact that two-thirds of party members lacked the necessary ‘motivation’ to vote seems to foreshadow another serious electoral defeat…
On Saturday evening, at 9.32 pm, when the votes received by the candidates were announced on the giant screen, chaos ensued.
Seventeen people, dissatisfied with their positions, lodged ‘objections’ to the results.
The ‘Chair of the Presiding Board’, who was chairing the convention, announced at 1.30 am that the votes would be recounted under the supervision of the Supreme Electoral Council.
The votes were to be recounted, with the digitally recorded votes compared against the ballot papers cast in the ballot boxes.
However, as of yesterday evening when this article was written, the ballot boxes were still being held under police supervision and no one was making any statement…
Moreover, Ünal Üstel flew to Ankara in the evening. The chairman of the congress who had made the decision, meanwhile, headed for hospital…
This ‘frivolous’ situation has taken centre stage on the political agenda in a manner entirely befitting the UBP.
The reason is very simple…
This ‘ugly’ picture concerns us all, whether we are party members, or not…
A political party makes a decision at its own congress but is unable to implement it…
It cannot, in any way, resolve the objections raised by its own members.
The Prime Minister, too, is flying abroad with a great deal of irresponsibility, saying, “Hold on, let me pop over to Ankara and we’ll see.”
Now, let’s turn to the objections…
It is, of course, only natural to accept that a ‘party member’ might not be satisfied with the votes they received from their own constituents.
They may have dreamt of securing the top spot on the list.
They may have spent months fantasising about it…
Their calculations may not have added up because, during village visits, they were told, “Don’t you worry, my friend; our votes are yours.”
Their party has ministers, MPs – everyone is a rival to one another…
They may have received promises from these ministers and MPs along the lines of, “you’re at the top of my list, my friend”…
Indeed, there may even be those who set out relying on a ‘smile’ from Ünal Üstel…
All of these have been the core components of UBP’s ‘style’ of politics since 1976.
In this situation, those who believe themselves to be of ‘superior value’ might think as follows:
“The UBP member has failed to recognise my worth; by breaking the promises made to me, they have deceived me.”
However, unfortunately, I have not seen a single ‘protester’ holding this view.
Parliament Speaker Ziya Öztürkler, who was at the forefront of the protesters, waved his arm at the Chair of the Council after the results were announced, saying, “Do not bring this party into disrepute” – a remark that implied ‘something was being hatched behind the scenes’.
Has this ‘Chairman of the Presiding Board’ done something ‘unbecoming’ of the UBP, thereby bringing the party into disrepute?
No one can say what sort of ‘disgrace’ is implied by the Chairman of the Presiding Board ‘constantly’ getting up from his seat and going to the back room where Ünal Üstel was located.
However, the remarks by one of the complainants, former Speaker of the Assembly Zorlu Töre, describing the situation as ‘suspicious’, cannot be dismissed out of hand...
Rather than saying “I did not receive the necessary support from members”, he too alluded to the ‘schemes’ that might be afoot behind the scenes.
In other words, both ‘Speakers of the Assembly’ are complaining about scheming and forgery within their own parties.
The ‘attitude’ of the ‘parliamentary candidate’, named Emrah Yeşilırmak, is also highly thought-provoking.
He stated that he would not stand as a candidate even if he were placed at the top of the list following a recount.
How can this MP, who—when his ‘immunity’ was protected by a Parliamentary decision during the ‘fake diploma investigation’—could not take to the podium and say, “You are taking away my right to be cleared of suspicion”, easily withdraw his candidacy now?
Those who say, “Because he is certain he cannot win…” are by no means wrong…
If only we could be discussing other outcomes instead of the reckless objections of those ‘dissatisfied with their position’ in this most organised party of the country.
For example, if there were certain ‘ethical’ codes for standing as a candidate in the UBP… If these were made public so that individuals who went against those codes would not be able to take part in the race at the party conference…
Take Ziya Öztürkler, for instance…
Could he have stood as a candidate in a party that respects ethical values?
Could the fact that his name was explicitly mentioned in the fake diploma trials not have provoked a reaction from some UBP members?
In other words, rather than fabricating a ‘fraud’ out of these ‘results’, could Mr Öztürkler not have questioned himself?
Similarly, might Emrah Yeşilırmak not have received a ‘slap in the face’ from UBP voters?
The fact that Ziya Öztürkler, Emrah Yeşilırmak and Hakan Dinçyürek failed to secure sufficient support from UBP members could actually be seen as a ‘positive’ sign from the perspective of UBP voters.
However, as it happens, there are other ‘results’ that contradict this ‘analysis’…
For example, how should Sucuoğlu’s securing the highest number of votes in Nicosia be interpreted?
Is this a ‘show of defiance’ by his own party base against Ünal Üstel?
Or, did the UBP electorate prefer to stand by the ‘victim’?
In short, with this convention, the UBP has once again tarnished its already declining ‘image’.
I suppose this convention has served to make the answer to the question, “Who will you not vote for?”, even clearer.
There is no ‘renewal’, or ‘purge’ within the UBP.
They will once again attempt to face the public with ‘controversial parliamentary candidates’.
The ‘higher authority’ that used to boycott those ‘elected’ at the UBP’s own party conference – how will it tailor a new strategy for the UBP in the face of this new situation?
We shall wait and see.
Source: CAN THERE BE ‘UNDERHAND DEALINGS’ AT A CELEBRATION OF DEMOCRACY, OR NOT?
