ANKARA (Reuters) -A Turkish court is expected to announce a verdict on Friday that could lead to the removal of the main opposition party leader Ozgur Ozel, in a case seen as a test of the country’s shaky balance between democracy and autocracy.
If the court annuls the outcome of proceedings in a 2023 annual congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), that would mean the ouster of Ozel, 51, its combative leader.
Ozel has risen to prominence since the March detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his party’s presidential candidate and the main political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan.
The centrist CHP, which denies the charges against it, is level with Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted, conservative AK party (AKP) in most polls.
If the court cancels the congress and ousts Ozel, it could name a trustee to run the party or reinstate former chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, whom Erdogan defeated in 2023 elections but has since lost much trust within the CHP.
It could also reject the case, brought by a CHP member, or delay a ruling again.
The CHP sought to shield Ozel from any court ruling last month when it re-elected him leader in an extraordinary party congress.
Hundreds of CHP members have also been jailed pending trial in a separate year-long crackdown that government critics call politicised and anti-democratic. The government rejects this, saying the judiciary is independent.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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