The Covid-19 outbreak has reversed the theoretical and practical situations established all over the world. This process has turned the distortions of the current world order into the main agenda of humanity. Undoubtedly, the most painful words that summarize this process are George Floyd's words: “I can't breathe”. On the one hand, the reflection of racist violence in the USA; on the other hand, the terrible inequality created by the neo-liberal order has left all humanity breathless. The fact that we have to constantly wear masks from the epidemic is another reflection of the symbolic order that gives us, humanity cannot breathe…

In the pandemic process, the contradictions experienced in every field in our country became evident. For years, our General Chairman, Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's statement, “No child will go to bed hungry" and the policies he built on this basically describes the order we struggle to establish. Because heavy poverty surrounds the whole society like an epidemic.

How will the person with no income stay at home?

The epidemic we live in has two dimensions. One is about the health of the people, namely the health aspect, and the other is the economy-politics with a different expression. When you look at the point of health, those who want to solve this with herd immunity, which is  a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population, have been in a lot of trouble. Those who dealt with the issue with a more protectionist approach, carried out the process more tidily. The basis of the success of the health system in this degree is the prominent health policy adopted in the Republican period. By tradition in Turkey in the period up to the last 25 years it has been dominated by social oriented logic. This helped to train qualified personnel in the health sector. Health is a basic human right. With the understanding of social state, the highest quality service should be provided by the state. The difference between the countries that adopt the understanding of the social state and the countries that do not adopt clearly emerged in this process. All rulers told their citizens to stay at home; however, some countries have failed to answer the question: How will people without income stay at home? The answer is in the social state. A state that prioritizes the citizen, meets its basic needs and is based on its rights arising from being a citizen should fulfill its responsibilities in such a difficult process. We have seen that this is not the case in many countries, especially in our country. Another reality we see is the vitality of the social state.

“We worked to ensure that no children go to bed hungry”

It is a must  to reach out to all those affected by the pandemic. Municipalities of CHP stepped in right here. We worked so that no children could go to bed hungry. We have seen again how vital social municipalism is. For example, in Çankaya, we produced services for different social segments that are the basis of social municipality. We have provided assistance for all the differentiating needs. We considered the process as a whole in economic, social and psychological terms, and within this framework, we established a solidarity relationship with everyone within the framework.
We found ways to transfer municipal resources to our people, not to concrete.

We are social democrats and say "we are human first". When you hit the road with this understanding, you solve many problems from the beginning. We found ways to transfer municipal resources to our people, not to concrete. We stopped many tenders because we did not know how long the economic problems would continue. Our aim was to cure the troubles. In the past three months, thousands of people were deprived of their income because all their workplaces were closed and we stepped in at the point where they remained alone with the problem of how to survive. We distributed 35 thousand food parcels in our own district. We provided cash support to our citizens who wanted cash support. We distribute two liters of milk weekly to children. We did not receive any rent from our tenants. We realized joint projects with the Metropolitan Municipality. We supported iftar campaigns. We supported the project of closing the books in the neighborhood grocery stores. We made purchases for our seniors over 65 who cannot leave their homes. We wanted to be there for whoever had any problem. We distributed 54 thousand violet flowers so that citizens can regain their joy of living. We disinfected the workplaces. Although these bring very serious costs, we, as the municipality, were with the citizen who was dealing with both their lives and pockets.

The central government had to reach out to everyone

Although the municipalities can receive donations conditionally or unconditionally, the blocking of the aid campaign of the central government in such a troubled period was met with reaction by the public. In this process, it shouldn't matter if aid was provided by the central government or municipalities, and the government had to reach out to everyone. In this way, the problems of the people could be resolved. In this difficult period, such an approach could have eliminated polarization in the society and set the ground for a new political climate.

There are three dimensions to leaving behind this whole difficult process, building a new order; social state, social municipalism and social democracy. Establishing a new order based on the economic and political rights of citizenship without leaving large sections of society at the mercy of the market or casino capitalism. The spirit of time requires that…