ISTANBUL - DEM Party Central Executive Board member Onur Hamzaoğlu pointed out that the referendum is an example of direct democracy and said: "It is a first in politics in Turkey, and we aim to create radical and qualified changes in world political history."

 

The work of political parties continues at full speed for the March 31 elections in which local administrators will be determined. The People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) held polls on January 13-14 in the cities where it came first and second to determine the candidates it will present in the elections. Members and managers of the party's delegation, citizens and representatives from non-governmental organizations determined the co-chair candidates of the DEM Party in many centers. DEM Party continues its work to determine its candidates in western cities. DEM Party Central Executive Board (MYK) member Onur Hamzaoğlu evaluated the importance of local elections and the party's election strategy.

 

SELF-CRITICISM PROCESSES

 

Reminding that following the results of the May 14 Presidential and General Elections, a process of self-criticism was entered in line with the criticisms from the party base, Hamzaoğlu described this as "the beginning of the democracy process". Noting that the process defined as public meetings was compiled into a report, Hamzaoğlu said that this process gave clues about what path to follow in the March 31 elections.

 

DIRECT DEMOCRACY

 

Emphasizing that the self-criticism process has revealed important results in terms of the development of the DEM Party, Hamzaoğlu noted that the primaries held to determine the candidates to be nominated in the local elections are directly related to this. Noting that the primary elections are a first in politics in Turkey in this sense, Hamzaoğlu said: “This primary election, which we are sure is the first in Turkey's political history and which we have not yet come across in the world political history within the scope of the literature review we have researched, is an important application of direct democracy. A form of government based on the direct will of the people and their sovereignty. We achieve this with the direct participation of the public. Direct democracy is of great importance for the DEM Party due to the tradition it is based on. Because, as you can see in the 2023 election texts, it is a party that has taken revolutionary democracy as its basic strategy. It aims to create radical and qualified changes. This will be achieved with the aim of implementing government based directly on the sovereignty of the people in all structures.”

 

PRE-SELECTION PRACTICE

 

"This primary election held by the DEM Party is a reflection of exactly what revolutionary, direct democracy means. Theoretically, it is the correction of a historical mistake by the DEM Party. The process of directly reflecting the sovereignty of the people begins with the candidates. Being revolutionary is important here. Going to the polls and voting may only be a minimal feature of democracy. Determining who you will vote for at the ballot box is essentially what completes this. The DEM Party's primary election practice is the activity of directly asking the local owners who will be voted for at the ballot box and who will be the official candidates, and by giving equal rights to everyone here and transferring the will to the real owners of the institution. For that reason, I would like to underline that we should celebrate it as a festival."

 

'THE PEOPLE SUPPORTED THEIR WILL'

 

Stating that the public showed great interest and participation in the primary elections, Hamzaoğlu said: “Currently, all the will has been transferred to the people and the locality. Whoever is in the local area, not only the members and delegates of the parties I just mentioned, but also the people living in that locality, together with the representatives of democratic mass organizations and professional organizations, decided who these candidates would be and who would govern them. While we are living in a period where the will of the people is seized by the state, the people are also claiming their own will through the primary election process. By saying 'These mayors reflected our will, we elected them, it was the will that emerged with our votes, you usurped them, but we are showing this will again', we say, 'Our will is in our own primary election' against this government that directly opposes the people. And indeed, thousands of people went to the polls in each ballot box. There were no problems experienced in the official elections, and this process was met and implemented with great consensus. The best part is that this process has turned into solidarity. The results were received by the entire delegation as 'yes, this is our real candidate.’

 

MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNMENT

 

Underlining that the government must understand the meaning of the primary elections and carefully read the message given by the Kurds through the primary elections, Hamzaoğlu said: “The state must see this; Interest and participation in the primary election is a response to the trustees appointed in all but 6 of the 61 municipalities. They reject the state's usurpation of the will of the people. And the people not only reject it, they raise their will against the will of the state, which they have placed above their own will."

 

URBAN CONSENSUS IN THE WEST

 

Stating that the DEM Party will act with the "City Consensus" strategy in the western cities where primaries are not held, Hamzaoğlu said: "We have a class structure similar to the city states I just gave as an example. We are not making a suggestion thinking that the bosses and the bourgeoisie will directly participate in this process. On the contrary, we understand the process by which the poor, laborers, women and young people who have to work to survive decide together who will govern that city, that locality. In this regard, it is aimed to determine the candidates in that locality by coming together with individuals, professional organizations, unions and political parties and through city consensus. This has led to studies, discussions and even workshop-level practices in some of our cities, in parallel with the primary elections we held locally. Efforts are being made to develop candidates for urban reconciliation in these places through consultation, not from the center, but by fully recognizing and transferring the originality of each place with its own uniqueness.”

 

 'A HISTORICAL REALITY'

 

Emphasizing that the DEM Party's election practices will directly affect the 31 March elections, Hamzaoğlu said that this will not be limited to the 31 March elections only. Hamzaoğlu continued his words as follows: “It is now imperative to make special efforts to implement this in more local areas. This is a historical reality. Look, HDK, which was established in 2011, founded HDP in 2012 in order to participate in the elections. What kind of structure was HDK? It did not consist only of political structures. There were faith groups, women, youth, union members, representatives of democratic mass organizations, disabled people and their representatives. Now the DEM Party exists as a continuation of this congress party. Therefore, it should be stated that the primary election and all the steps in this context are based on the reflection of this congress experience. This return to the core will further develop the party in this sense. It is an important step in creating an organization by solving the distance from the public and the problems of a certain period and implementing it with everyone, everywhere. This is the renewal of will.”

 

MA / İbrahim Irmak