Main opposition CHP leader slams dissidents amid works on party's future road map

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has slammed dissident voices among the party's cadre, amid works on a road map for the upcoming presidential election, in a bid to "hold 49 percent of the 'no' votes together."

"Nobody should exceed the level of criticism and say 'I can say whatever I want publicly.' I will show the door to whoever harms the party. It is that simple," Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview with private broadcaster NTV late May 3. 

"I will eliminate them from the party. They can form their own parties. For example, they can form a gossip party where they can gossip all day long," he added. 

His comments came after former CHP leader Deniz Baykal urged Kılıçdaroğlu to commence a process to determine the presidential candidate of the party and said "either be the candidate or step out." 

Baykal also suggested former President Abdullah Gül to be the candidate of the referendum's opposition front, the 49 percent of the electorate that said "no" on April 16, likening it to Greece's Panhellenic Socialist Movement's (PASOK) model in 1981. He also suggested Meral Akşener, a former member and dissident name from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and Kurdish issue-focused People's Democratic Party's (HDP) Ahmet Türk to be a part of the "49 percent campaign."

The suggestion stirred debate within the CHP, emerging dissident voices from the party to call for Kılıçdaroğlu's resignation as leader. 

"Kılıçdaroğlu has fought against a one-man regime but he became a 'one man' in his party," CHP lawmaker Fikri Sağlar told daily Akşam on May 2. 

He was later referred to a disciplinary board over his "one-man" remarks. 

When asked about the opposition members,...