ANKARA (Reuters) -A Turkish court on Monday delayed until September a hearing on a case that could oust the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Ozgur Ozel, by potentially annulling the 2023 congress at which he was elected.

An initial hearing had been set for Monday. The next hearing will be on September 8.

Stripping Ozel of his chairmanship would mark the latest judicial blow to opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan. He is a potential challenger in future elections after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – the party’s elected presidential candidate – was jailed in March.

The lawsuit, filed by a CHP member, seeks to overturn results of the party’s 38th Ordinary Congress in November 2023 over procedural irregularities. At that congress, Ozel had replaced Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to Erdogan in presidential elections earlier that year.

(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)