Turkish secularists elect new leader

Turkey's main opposition party elected a new leader backing political and economic reform on Saturday in a bid to win back disenchanted voters who have deserted to the Islamist-leaning AK Party over the last decade.

 The new chairman, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a 62-year former civil servant, said his priority would be combating unemployment and graft. He is expected to focus on restoring the party's left-wing credentials and winning back poor voters from AK.




The Republican People's Party (CHP), which represents secularist forces including the military and senior judges, was thrown into disarray when veteran party leader Deniz Baykal resigned following a sex tape scandal.Baykal fell out of favor with middle-class voters by firmly resisting the AK Party's European Union-inspired reform steps to pare back the powerful army's influence in politics, reform the judiciary and liberalize the economy. He kept a tight grip on the party that led to a number of former loyalists resigning.

"(The AK Party rulers) rob you and build villas with pools for themselves and grow richer while claiming they are helping the poor," he told CHP supporters who chanted "Prime Minister Kemal" and "Revolutionary Kemal.

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