There Is No 'Give Us Your Vote, Give Us Authority' or 'Become a Member, Step Aside, Leave the Rest to Us' Mentality Here

New Party leader Özgür Özel said at his party's first public parliamentary group meeting that they are abandoning the old delegate-based organizational model that isolates parties and sometimes steers them away from real power. "Delegacy will remain a technical duty to fulfill the Political Parties Law, and in our New Party, every member will directly elect the district chair, provincial chair, and party leader, he said. Özel noted they won their first elections, never lost to AK Party, and are moving toward power, calling themselves "today's representatives of the National Forces spirit.

He said they founded the party on July 24 with 91 colleagues on the nation's instruction, adding, "We did not found the New Party just to have a party; we founded it so the New Party becomes the government and the nation brings it to power. Özel stressed that no other party's founding, name, and budget were determined by the people, and the party will be fully accountable to them. He said the party was built at the grassroots, not the top, and is the party of new politics Turkey has longed for.

"There is no 'give us your vote, give us authority' or 'become a member, step aside, leave the rest to us' mentality here. The only force that will direct this party is the nation itself, he said. He announced a new organizational model based on neighborhood assemblies, with district and provincial councils as the core political units.

We are establishing a new organizational model where neighborhood assemblies are essential in all suitable neighborhoods. In all districts where we are organized, the basic politics will be district councils formed by members, not district administrations, Özel said. He emphasized that members will have voice, authority, and decision-making power, and the party's strength will come from its organization and members, not its leaders. Özel also addressed his departure from the Republican People's Party, saying he proposed a leadership election with all members as a last resort but received no response, and invited those who saw only internal opposition as possible to watch how the New Party makes politics possible.