Imprisoned Kurdish politician criticizes opposition's passivity

Imprisoned Kurdish politician criticizes opposition's passivity
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"This lack of reaction will end up sentencing 85 million people to many more years in an open prison," Demirtas has warned.

Imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas criticized the opposition's inaction against the Turkish president's candidacy for an unconstitutional third term.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), earlier said on 23 January that they will not legally object to Erdogan's unconstitutional move to run for a third term because they do not have any confidence with the election authority whose members are appointed by Erdogan.

"Let's say we haven't remained silent and filed an objection. Where will it go? To the Supreme Election Council," Kilicdaroglu said. "Who appoints the members of the council? Erdogan himself. Who will refute his decision?"

Demirtas said on Twitter on Tuesday:

"What if the Supreme Election Council decides to annul five million votes, or to renew the elections till Erdogan wins? Are we going to say it is normal 'because the council members are supporters of AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] anyway?'"

He continued:

"We cannot speak of the law's presence if there are no sanctions. The members of the Supreme Election Council should be [made] aware that they will face justice if they become complicit in a violation. They should know that millions of people will gather before the offices of the council to express their democratic will; they should know this and act accordingly."

He added:

"It was Erdogan who imprisoned us, but it is the lack of reaction on the part of the opposition that has kept us in prison. This lack of reaction will end up sentencing 85 million people to many more years in an open prison. The trustees appointed to local administrations, to universities; the closure case against HDP, the Gezi case, the Kobani case, the CHD case [against a group of lawyers]; the plots targeting the administration of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality... They are all so similar."