Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is a social democrat. He is leader of the secularist CHP ("Republican People's Party") and has been Leader of the Main Opposition in Turkey since 2010. He served as a Member of Parliament for İstanbul's second electoral district from 2002 to 2015 and as an MP for İzmir's second electoral district as of 7 June 2015. Before entering politics, Kılıçdaroğlu was a civil servant and served as the President of the Social Insurance Institution (SSK) from 1992 to 1996 and again from 1997 to 1999. In 2017, he rallied more than 40.000 people with his “long walk for justice” from Ankara to Istanbul.