NEW Party MYK convened yesterday at the headquarters of the party under the chairmanship of Chairman Özgür Özel. Lasting approximately four hours. The fund crisis in the Central Executive Board, the General Assembly and commission works that will start today in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the field work of the MPs, the preparations for the congresses and the 1st Ordinary Congress to be held on 14-15 November, and current political developments were discussed.
District primaries and district congresses were completed in line with the NEW Party's congress calendar. Party staff stated that the provincial congresses were next and said, "We have finished the most important part. The provinces remain. We will focus on the congress."
According to the information obtained, NEW Party established primary ballot boxes in 307 districts. He competed with more than one candidate in 146 of these districts. The staff described the primary elections, in which more than 50 percent of the members participated, as a "feast of democracy". As a result of the district congresses, almost 50 percent of the founding district presidents changed.
According to the calendar, provincial congresses will start on October 18. All citizens who became members until 23.59 yesterday will be able to vote in the primary elections to be held for provincial presidents.
Stating that a preparation commission was established for the congress, the staff said, "We attach importance to this because it is the first congress of our party. It will be a congress of hope, we aim for power, we need to make a claim. The people have expectations from us." On the other hand, it was learned that slogan and theme studies are continuing for the 1st Ordinary Congress, which will be held at Ankara Arena on 14-15 November.
CURRENT NUMBER OF MEMBERS IS 745 THOUSAND, TARGET IS 1 MILLION
The current number of members of the NEW Party is 745 thousand 790. Stating that they aim to reach 1 million members by the new year, the staff stated that the members' voting in the congresses resulted in an increase in the number of members and said, "Our members cared that their opinions were taken into account. A positive momentum was achieved in the membership. Now, our Chairman will be determined by the members again. Ballot boxes will be placed in all districts."
LATEST SITUATION ON DONATIONS
Stating that the donations reached a figure of around 580 million liras, the staff noted that 330 million liras of this was money received directly from citizens, and the rest was membership and dues fees. Staff said, "We have nearly 160 thousand donations with explanations. Some give from market money, some increase from pension. This motivates us to act with the necessary discipline to make payments more sensitively, use this money correctly and take us to the elections. We are scrutinizing carefully."
"WE WILL INSIST ON THE REQUEST FOR AN INVESTIGATION COMMISSION"
The General Assembly and commission studies that will start today in the Parliament were also on the agenda of the Central Executive Board. Stating that they will insist on the establishment of an investigation commission on the fund crisis, the NEW Party staff said, "Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya's statement has already been taken. It is a complete disaster. We will never allow them to cover up the incident. We will hold accountable every penny stolen from the citizens' pockets."
NEW PARTY CONDUCTED ITS DEFENSE TO THE Constitutional Court
Following the name change application of the YeniHP Party, the Constitutional Court, which put the application on the agenda, asked for a defense from the NEW Party. It was learned that the YENİ Party conveyed its defense to the Constitutional Court yesterday. The staff said the following on the subject:
"There is no situation that affects our legal personality, number of members or donations. The Constitutional Court will evaluate it. If there is a confusion, it will ask for it to be changed. If it makes such a decision during the period until the congress, it is possible to change it at our 1st Ordinary Congress with the decision of the Founders' Board. If it decides on a confusion after the congress, an extraordinary congress will need to be held. In such a case, we call it the 'New Party of the Nation', 'The New Party of the People', 'The New Party of Change' But we will keep the 'new' name.
The Constitutional Court may also decide that there is no confusion, and we think that its decision will be in this direction when we examine the precedent decisions and objections. Because when voting for a party, voters look at its nickname and emblem as a whole. Merely sounding, phonetically similar, or coming from the same root does not constitute a presumption of confusion in itself. Therefore, it is necessary to examine it as a whole.
Decisions made in the past support our thesis. We believe we are right. Besides, it is a very simple matter. Turkey has very important legal and political agendas. We think that the name of a newly established political party being talked about so much is intended to cover up these agendas. A name change is not on our agenda. Turkey has realities.”
PRESS STATEMENT IN FRONT OF THE Constitutional Court
NEW Party will make a press statement in front of the Constitutional Court (AYM) tomorrow at 12:00 with the participation of Chairman Özgür Özel. NEW Party, which brought the legal regulation made in July regarding the transfer of the powers of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK) to the Cyber Security Presidency, to the Constitutional Court, took action after the application was not yet put on the agenda. Following the access bans imposed on social media accounts within the scope of the "My Family is Safe" operations, the NEW Party will call for the application to be evaluated as a priority and invited the institutions, associations and individuals whose accounts were blocked to access the press release in front of the Constitutional Court.
