Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the longstanding chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), faces an uncertain future after his latest election loss to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Özgür Özel, from a younger generation of politicians in Türkiye’s oldest party, is expected to announce his candidacy to succeed Kılıçdaroğlu, media outlets reported.

Özel, who currently serves as parliamentary group chair of the party, said Tuesday that he met Kılıçdaroğlu and would hold a news conference at the party’s headquarters on Friday, "regarding the congress process we are currently engaged in." After the May elections, the CHP launched a nationwide calendar of local intraparty elections that will culminate in the election of a new party leader. Kılıçdaroğlu himself did not announce his candidacy but in recent remarks to a journalist said he would stand for election if only his fellow party members nominated him, "like we did in the past."

Kılıçdaroğlu, who has led the party since 2010, increasingly faces calls to resign after he lost the presidential runoff against Erdoğan on May 28. The leader, who gave up his seat in Parliament to challenge Erdoğan, paved the way for Özel to be the CHP’s top representative in Parliament following the runoff defeat.

Last month, Özel told Halk TV, a TV station affiliated with the CHP, that he was ready "to accept any job so that the party would not suffer any more losses."

The power struggle in the CHP officially took off as Istanbul’s ambitious Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu made several calls for a "change" in the CHP. Imamoğlu was expected to challenge Kılıçdaroğlu for the top seat, but the mayor later backtracked after hinting that he may join the race against Kılıçdaroğlu.

The presidential election defeat was largely attributed to Kılıçdaroğlu’s lack of powerful address and "unsuccessful strategies," according to his critics. It sparked an outcry among opposition supporters demanding accountability.

The 74-year-old former bureaucrat has been resolute in keeping his seat despite it all. He suspended numerous heads of the party’s local branches across Türkiye known for their support of Imamoğlu. He assembled his deputies for back-to-back meetings and was said to have banned any talk of the intraparty crisis before the public, threatening to "part ways with anyone who fails to comply."

Still, dissidents retain a majority in the CHP’s party assembly, threatening Kılıçdaroğlu’s iron-fisted rule of the party since 2010, when he replaced Deniz Baykal, a leader who adhered to a more orthodox party policy.

Earlier, Kılıçdaroğlu conceded that he was "not a fan" of the top CHP seat and could step down "if a candidate with a clean sheet" emerges, a pointed remark toward Imamoğlu who is tangled in several lawsuits on corruption and insult.